


can you blame me for wanting a little bit more?

by avengerskye



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hope's not into the whole soulmate thing, Hosie Endgame, Josie loves the soulmate thing, but they're in love, past posie, they get each other's name written on their skin, they're gonna fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:01:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 44,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22917385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avengerskye/pseuds/avengerskye
Summary: Soul marks are one of those rare things that barely never happens in the supernatural world anymore. They appear when the soulmates are 16, and it takes the form of their soulmate's name in their handwriting.Hope finds the beautiful letters of Josie's name tattooed on her skin the morning of her 16th birthday and she kinda freaks out.Or; the soulmate au that was requested on tumblr.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 893
Kudos: 1941





	1. Soul marks

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> I'm so very excited to share the first chapter of this story. Thanks to everyone who suggested it, or supported the idea on tumblr. 
> 
> I hope this turned out fine! Enjoy 😁
> 
> Oh, and the name of the fic was inspired by the song "A little more" by Alessia Cara.

The morning of her sixteenth birthday, nothing feels that much different for Hope Mikaelson. She still has two dead parents, her family is still very far away and she has no friends. That's why this day doesn't feel as special to Hope as it should. She gets out of bed at 5, just like every morning. Hope quickly changes from her pyjamas to her training clothes, it feels like she's still sleeping. Then she goes to her bathroom and brushes her teeth, before heading out of her room and to the deck she uses as a training ground with Dr. Saltzman. As soon as she gets there, Hope's face changes. Her mentor has this weird smile on his face, like he wants to say something, but he's not sure if he should. 

Hope rolls her eyes. "Just say what you wanna say."

Alaric's smile widens. "Happy birthday Hope."

Hope forces a smile, and nods. "Thank you Dr. Saltzman. Now can we get to training?"

The man gives her a tight-lipped smile. "Of course."

They train for the next hour or so, and if they both realize Hope fights with a little more aggressivity today, neither of them mention it. When they're done, Hope has just enough time to go back to her room and shower before breakfast. She quickly leaves Dr. Saltzman behind, not wanting to see his eyes full of pity one more second. As soon as she walks into her room, Hope slams the door behind her. She mutters a spell to lock it as she walks to the bathroom to get the shower she's desperately craving. She quickly gets the shower running before taking her clothes off and stepping in. The auburn haired girl closes her eyes as the hot water touches her body. After a couple of minutes that actually feel like seconds, Hope opens her eyes and reach for the soap. She starts washing herself, but something quickly catches her eyes, There's black ink on the right side of her collarbone, just like a tattoo. Hope feels panic invade her, so she washes the soap off as fast as possible and steps out of the shower. She stands in front of the mirror, and her eyes widen. Even though the image of the letters is reversed, Hope can perfectly read the name on her collarbone. 

In the blink of an eye, she gets out of the bathroom and puts clothes on. Hope walks through the hallways leading to Dr. Saltzman's office as calmly and composed as she can. She feels the eyes of her peers on her, just like every time she walks in the halls. Those stares used to be caused by her being the mysterious Hope Marshall, the lonely student. Now, they were all caused by her being Hope Mikaelson, the powerful tribrid, daughter of one of the most despised villains in their history book. When a stare is too insistant, Hope glares and then it's over. 

When she finally gets to the Headmaster's office, Hope knocks one time and she's told to enter. The Mikaelson girl does, and closes the door behind her. She says a silencing spell, just to make sure no one would have the idea to eavesdrop on them.

"Can you tell me why your daughter's name appeared on my collarbone?" Hope asks as she crosses her arms, suddenly feeling defensive. 

Alaric frowns. "What do you mean?"

"Josie's name is written in a beautiful handwriting on my collarbone. It's black, and it looks like a tattoo. Do you think it could be a spell or something?" Hope says, voice laced with panic.

Dr. Saltzman is deep in thoughts for a moment, then he moves around his desk and walks closer to Hope. 

"Could I take a look?" The man hesitantly asks.

Hope swallows and nods before pushing the fabric of her shirt to the side to let her mentor see the ink on her skin. She exposes the skin where Josie's name is marked on, and it soon makes Alaric frown. He lifts his hand, but before touching Hope, he stops.

"Do you mind if I touch it? I'd like to see if it's in the skin or over it." 

Hope nods. "Yeah, okay."

Alaric immediately touches the skin. It only lasts a couple of seconds, and then he's straightening up and sighs. 

"I have no idea what this is." Alaric stares at the ink, so Hope quickly covers it with her shirt. "I think we should meet with Dorian in the library, he'll probably know something about this."

Hope silently follows him to the library. As they pass the common room, Josie and Lizzie's eyes fall on them, and Hope can't take the jealousy in them today, so she looks away. Or at least she tries, but her eyes seem to have a mind of their own, because suddenly she's looking back at the brunette twin. When their eyes lock together, Josie has the kindness to address a little smile to Hope. The Mikaelson girl gives a little smile back and then she looks back ahead of herself. Soon enough, they're in the library and Alaric explains their problem to Dorian. The librarian looks confused, and it quickly becomes obvious he has no idea where the ink is coming from. 

"You should go to class Hope, we'll find out what this is and find you soon, okay?" Dorian says with a kind smile.

"Okay, yeah." Hope nods and turns to walk away. 

"Oh and Hope, happy birthday." Dorian says before she's out of the room.

"Thanks." Hope says over her shoulder as she passes the door.

Her first class proves to be boring, and Hope's mind easily drifts to the weird ink on her collarbone. She could totally let it pass as a spell gone wrong, or even as a bad joke. But it would be easier to believe if something like "Basic witch" was written. Why was Josie's name written on her skin? Hope still remembers the letters of Josie's name beautifully written on her collarbone. Somehow, it feels like she saw that handwriting before, she just can't figure out where. 

Her second class of the day is just as boring as the first, but since it's practice, and not theory, Hope's brain and hands are occupied. She's measuring ingredients to put in her potion when the door of the lab suddenly opens and Alaric walks in.

"I need to see you Hope. Now."

Hope quickly puts the ingredients aside and walk out of the class. She follows a fast walking Dr. Saltzman through the halls leading to the library. When they walk inside the room, Hope's eyes widen when she sees about 20 books opened everywhere. 

"We found out what the mark means." Dorian says with a little awkward smile.

"I knew I recognized the handwriting when I saw the mark, but I didn't want to make you panic." Alaric says. 

"Can you just tell me what it means?" Hope impatiently asks.

"It's called a soul mark and it's one of the rarest supernatural occurence." Dorian starts. "It happens when two souls are connected on a very deep level." He reaches for a book. "This is the book with the most details. It says you have to be sixteen for the mark to appear, makes sense since you turned sixteen today. Your soul mark is the name of the one you're bonded to, written in their handwritting."

"Wait. So, you're talking about actual soulmates?" Hope questions with a guarded voice.

The men look at each other and shrug.

"Basically, yes." Alaric says.

"And what does it implies?" Hope asks.

"The books aren't that clear about this part. It mostly says that it depens on the bond. They talk about mind links, feeling each other's emotions and what they all agree on is that it's a love like no other." Dorian quickly explains.

Hope turns around so she's not facing them anymore. She runs her hands through her hair as she tries to think, but the surprise, frustration and anger are too overwhelming. Destiny was being such a bitch to her. She didn't need to have a soulmate on top of being the only tribrid in existence. She swallows the lump in her throat before turning around to face the two men in the room.

"How do I get rid of it?" 

Alaric and Dorian both look at each other, stunned. Then, they look back to Hope. Alaric walks closer, until he can put a gentle hand on the auburn haired girl's shoulder.

"You don't Hope." He softly says. "Soul marks never disappear."

"B-but I don't want it." Hope feels the tears burning her eyes, but she's not able to stop them. "Please, tell me there's something I can do."

The man gently pulls her in a hug. "It's gonna be okay. I know my daughter, and I'm sure she'll take this well. Just tell her and everything will feel better."

Hope pulls away with force and glares at him. "Absolutely not. I don't want Josie to know, not now and not ever."

Alaric sighs and shakes his head. "Hope… She'll get your name on her skin in a little less than two years, and then she'll ask the same questions you asked today."

Hope thinks about it for a couple of seconds. Less than two years. It gave her some time to maybe build a friendship with Josie. Then she could tell Josie about their soulmate bond and figure something out. 

"Okay, well I have two years to plan something." Hope looks at both of the men. "You have to both promise me you'll never talk about the soul mark. I need to be the one to tell her, but only when I'll be ready."

Alaric and Dorian look at each other before looking back at Hope again.

"I promise." Dorian says first.

"Please, know how hard this will be for me to lie to her, but I promise I'll keep the secret." Alaric agrees. 

Hope nods one last time. "Thank you."

Then she's rushing out of the library under the worried eyes of Alaric and Dorian.

  
  



	2. Penelope Park

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the kudos and wonderful comments on the first chapter. I appreciate each and every one of you!
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

For the next few months after her birthday, Hope can't help but look at Josie everytime she can. Soulmates. They are soulmates. The concept is still sinking in, but she can't deny the feelings that are creeping in. Everytime her eyes have the chance to land on the brunette, Hope feels a little more… of something. She chose to not put a word on these feelings. The only one at fault for those feelings is this stupid soul bond. She never even thought about Josie that way before. Okay, that's a lie. She did have a crush on Josie two years ago, but that lasted a week. It doesn't count, right? 

If the brunette notices the eyes on her, she doesn't say anything about it. Josie acts like everything is normal, she even smiles a little when her eyes catches Hope's. Sometimes Hope reciprocate the smile without thinking about it. Other times, she looks else where as soon as she gets caught. She wants to make efforts, and maybe even get a little closer to Josie. They could be friends, it would soften the blow when Josie's gonna learn the truth.

And then the twins 15th birthday comes, and Hope's whole plan gets thrown out the window. She got Josie a present, and she fully intends to tell the brunette she wanna be friends. Hope even dressed up for this! It takes her about an hour to actually gather the courage to walk to the big party downstairs, but when she does, the auburn haired girl immediately regrets it. There, in the middle of the dance floor, Josie is slowly dancing in the arms of Penelope Park. Body pressed close and the stars in the birthday girl's eyes can't be missed. 

The jealousy in the pit of Hope's stomach is something she's never felt before. She stands at the top of the stairs, gift in hands, totally frozen in place. It's only when MG passes near her that she steps into action. Hope grabs his arm to make him stop.

"Hey Hope! Didn't know you were coming." The kind boy says with a smile.

"Yeah, uh, I changed my mind." Hope rushes out, and then she hands him the gift. "Here, give this to Josie for me, please?"

"Uh, sure, but she's just there. I'm sure she'd love it if you gave it to her yourself."

"I can't." Hope's voice is smaller than she meant it to be.

MG frowns worriedly. "Hey, you okay Hope? If something happened-"

"MG! Please stop. Just take the freaking gift and give it to Josie for me."

Hope places the gift in MG's hands and then she turns around and leave quickly. She knows she should tell Dr. Saltzman before going out for a run, but the whole student body is litterally at the party right now, including the headmaster. So Hope doesn't tell him. She goes straight outside, running as fast as can until she's in the woods. The Mikaelson girl doesn't even take her dress off before shifting. She could take some of her emergency clothes later. Hope runs, she runs until she can't run anymore. She desperetaly needs to escape her thoughts, and the mental image of Josie pressed close to Penelope Park.

When she stops running, the sun is already up. She ran the whole night, and a good part of the morning. She quickly finds a bag of emergency clothes in the woods, shifts back and put them on. She then walks back to the school, exhausted, but calmer than the night before. That is, until she gets to the hallway leading to her room and comes face to face with her soulmate.

"Hope! It's good to see you, I just went to your room and knocked but you didn't answer." Josie says with a nervous smile. "I guess that makes sense since you're here now."

Josie is adorable, but instead of letting herself smile fondly, Hope puts a poker face on.

"Did you want something?" 

The auburn haired girl's words are like a slap to Josie's face, and Hope almost regrets saying them. The brunette's smile falters and she looks down, only to look up again, full smile on again.

"I just wanted to say thank you for the gift. The hair clip is really beautiful."

Hope forces a smile this time. "You're welcome."

"Can I just… ask why you gave it to me? You never gave me a birthday gift before."

Hope runs a hand through her hair and sighs. "I guess I just… wanted to do something nice. Because you're a nice person, and you deserve it."

"Oh, well thank you again. I love it. Do you want to come and have breakfast with me? Everyone's already there, and -"

"No. The gift, it didn't mean anything. It certainly didn't mean I want to hang out with you and Penelope Park!" Hope almost yells. 

Josie is taken aback, and her smile quickly turns into a frown and a glare. 

"Well, fine! Sorry for trying again to be your friend."

The brunette storms out of the hallway, and Hope can't help but follow her retreating form. Hope groans loudly before walking to her room and slamming the door behing her. She just ruined everything. Great. 

Hope's not surprised to get a little visit from Dr. Saltzman about an hour later. There's a knock.

"Who is it?" Hope asks, not getting up from her bed. 

"It's your headmaster, and I double as an angry father right now."

Hope sighs. "Come in."

Alaric walks in, frown fully in place, and then he closes the door behind himself.

"I thought you were gonna try."

"I did." Hope sighs out.

Alaric runs a hand over his face, clearly very tired himself. "You saw her with Penelope Park."

Hope clenches her jaw. "Are they dating?"

"Yes."

"Then I won't try anymore." Hope says as she gets up from her bed and walks closer to her mentor. "She deserves to be happy, and this whole soulmate story could ruin that."

"You could be friends, Hope. Wouldn't it be better than letting her ressent you?"

"Oh yeah! Be Josie's friend so I could sit front row as she rides the happy romantic boat with Penelope?" Hope feels the emotions build up again, so it's no surprise when her voice comes out broken. "Do you have any idea how much it hurt me to see her in that girl's arms yesterday? It felt as though someone had ripped my heart out of my chest. I just wanted to run to them and-" Hope stops herself, realizing what she was gonna say. "I wanted to hurt Penelope, Dr. Saltzman."

Alaric's anger quickly turns into sympathy for Hope. Now that he undestands what happened, he can also understand Josie and Hope's earlier conversation. He moves closer and pulls Hope into a hug, fully expecting her to push him away. But, Hope doesn't. Instead, the teenager buries her face into his chest and cries. 

"It's gonna be okay Hope. You're not gonna hurt anyone."

* * *

It only takes a couple of months for Penelope to break Josie's heart. Hope hears about it as she walks down the hallway to her spell class, a class she shares with both Josie and Penelope. She hears something else. How Lizzie made a whole scene and almost attacked her sister's ex-girlfriend, and that she's now in her father's office. So it's no surprise to Hope when she walks in spell class, and sees Josie sitting alone. It's clear she's been crying, her cheeks are tear stained. She looks totally shattered. Hope's eyes then find Penelope. The witch looks perfectly fine, chatting with other witches and laughing. It makes Hope's blood boil. 

"Hope?" Josie says when the Mikaelson girl sits down next to her. 

Hope turns to look at Josie. "I heard." 

Josie avoids her eyes and looks down. "If you're here to mock me-"

"I'm not. Give me your hand."

Josie doesn't say anything, and hesitantly, she holds out her hand for Hope. The auburn haired girl gives Josie a comforting smile before gently taking the brunette's hand in hers. Then she quietly says a spell, and suddenly the whole class disappear. It's like they're the only ones sitting in class that day. Hope adds something, and their teacher appears. 

"To everyone else, the class is going normally. As long as you hold my hand, the other students won't reappear." The Mikaelson girl explains. "I thought you might like to get a break."

Josie smiles a little and squeezes Hope's hand. "Thank you."

They spend the whole class this way, hand in hand, as if they're the only ones in class that day. The feeling of Josie's hand in hers is enough to put a fuzzy feeling in Hope's stomach, and to make her wish it'd never stop. But then, the class gets dismissed and Josie takes her hand back, pulling them back into reality. 

Josie's eyes are glued to Hope as the tribrid gathers her books. "Why do you act like you don't care, and then you do things like this?"

"It's complicated." Hope says.

Without another word, Hope stands up and walk out of the room under the curious eyes of her soulmate.

When later that day, Penelope Park slowly turns green in the dinning room, everyone laughs. The brunette witch gets angry and quickly tries to find someone to blame. The most obvious answer would be her ex-girlfriend, but Josie wasn't there. Then, she thinks of Josie's twin, but Lizzie isn't there either. She's left wondering who turned her skin green, because there's not obvious answer anymore.

On the other side of the room, Hope watches with a smirk playing on her lips. Alaric was right, attacking someone's pride was so much more satisfying than hurting them physically sometimes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? What did you think? :D
> 
> Next chapter : It's the twins' birthday, and Josie gets her soul mark.


	3. Josie's birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!
> 
> So I played with the Legacies timeline a little. Malivore is not a thing in this story. Landon is a normal kid. He just had vervain in his coffee.
> 
> 2 chapters in 2 days, how great is that?!
> 
> So, yeah! Enjoy my lovely readers.

A week. There's only a week left before Josie's birthday. Maybe it makes Hope really nervous. Okay, no, she's scared to death. Her relationship with Josie is civil at best right now, but her relationship with Josie's twin, Lizzie, is a total war zone. Hope had a verbal fight with the blonde Saltzman twin the day before, resulting in Lizzie storming away from her and Josie shooting her a glare.

"You have a week to tell her, Hope." Alaric says between two punches.

"I know." Hope replies with a kick in her mentor's ribs.

Alaric groans and takes a step back. "You're being aggressive today."

Hope rolls her eyes. "No more than any other day. You're getting old, that's all."

"Be carefull with your words Hope." Alaric glares.

Then they're both laughing and Hope feels a little better, a little less stressed. The tribrid gathers her things, she really needs a shower before she gets to class. Just as she closes her bag, Alaric's words makes her freeze.

"Don't wait until she has her soul mark and asks about it. You should tell her before."

"I will." Hope replies through gritted teeth. 

Hope walks back to her room, feeling a good kind of exhaustion, the kind that makes her feel relaxed. On her way to her room, she passes Josie in the hall. Her heart skips a beat and somehow she feels brave. So Hope walks to the brunette with a small smile.

"Hi Josie."

"Hi." Josie says, clearly unsure.

"So, are you having a good day?" Hope asks, and she immediately wants to smack herself. It's 7 in the morning, Josie's day haven't even started yet.

"Uh, yes? I guess. I had a good night of sleep and no Penelope Park in sight, so I'm good." 

"Awesome. Uh, I was wondering, like, could we talk?" 

"My sister has no desire to speak with you Mikaelson." Lizzie snaps as she appears behind Josie. 

Suddenly, Hope's calm and collected attitude is thrown out the window. She balls her hands in fists and restrains herself from just telling Lizzie Saltzman to fuck off.

"Good morning Lizzie, it's good to see you're in a good mood today." Hope says instead.

Lizzie rolls her eyes. "Fuck off Mikaelson."

"I was trying to be nice, you freaking bi-"

"Enough! The two of you, just stop." Josie turns to her sister. "Hope was being nice. Why did you attack her like that?"

"Oh yeah, she's nice one second and the other she stabs us in the back or give us the cold shoulder."

"When did I ever stab you in the back?!" Hope protests.

Josie lifts a hand to stop Hope. "Enough you too. Look, I don't think it's a good idea we speak right now. There's too much tension between the three of us."

Hope tightens her hold on the strap of her bag. "Sure, whatever."

Then the auburn haired girl turns around and walks back to her room. She needed to figure out another way to tell Josie. Actually, she just needs Lizzie to be as far away as possible when she tells the brunette twin. Maybe she could take Josie somewhere the day before her birthday, give her her gift and tell her they're soulmates. Hope groans and goes in the shower. This is a terrible idea. _Happy birthday, here's your gift, and surprise! We're soulmates._ Terrible idea, indeed. After washing herself, Hope steps out of the shower and stops in front of the mirror. It feels like Josie's name on her shoulder is taunting her. 

* * *

"Hope! I need your help." Dr. Saltzman says with a worried frown.

The Mikaelson girl tightens her hold on the small box in her hands and turns to face her mentor.

"With what? 'Cause I was actually-"

"I'm sorry, but it's important. We found a new supernatural, and he might be in danger."

Hope looks down at the box in her hands again, then with a sighs she puts it back in her pocket. It would have to wait, again. The thing is, she's running out of time.

"Let's go." 

Turns out the boy they found is named Rafael and he's a werewolf. His foster family brought him to get an exorcism on a full moon. Hope also sees an old aquaintance, Landon Kirby. It's pretty clear Landon's crush on her hasn't died, but Hope tries to play it cool. She wasn't about to explain to him that she has a soulmate. They bring both boys back to school, even though Landon's not a supernatural. He saw some things, and that needs to be taken care of. As soon as they get back to school, Hope notices the twins waiting for them.

"Girls, why don't you give Rafael the tour while Hope and I have a little talk with Landon?"

"Sure dad." The twins answer together. 

They leave, but not without Lizzie poking Hope. The tribrid's eyes are glued on Josie though. She's missing her last chance to be honest with her soulmate. Hope's heart clenches painfully. 

"Hope, are you coming with us?" Dr. Saltzman says.

"Yeah." 

* * *

Hope knocks on the door of Alaric's office later that day. He quickly tells her to come in, so she does.

"I missed my last chance today." Hope says as she walks in.

"You still have time until midnight. Go see her."

"I think she's crushing on Raf." 

Alaric sighs. "Stop it. Just go and tell Josie she's your soulmate."

"How do you think she'll react?"

"I think she's gonna be surprised, but I also think she's gonna take it well."

Hope nods. "What did you do with Landon?"

"He's in the werewolf transition space."

She nods again. "You're gonna try to erase his memory again tomorrow?"

"Hope, stop buying time and go see Josie."

The tribrid groans. "Fine. Do you happen to know where she is?"

"I heard about a really secret party going on in the woods."

Hope smiles. "Thank you Dr. Saltzman."

Hope walks out of his office and goes straight out of the school. The way to the old mill is one she knows by heart, but she doesn't have to go far to find the girl she's looking for. Josie looks pissed and there's silent tears sliding on her cheeks. The brunette is so lost in her own head, that when Hope walks to her, Josie collides straight into the tribrid.

"I-I'm sorry." Josie says, her angry frown gone. 

"What's wrong?" Hope says with her softest voice.

Hope's care seems to be a breaking point for Josie, and suddenly she's sobbing. Without hesitation, the tribrid pulls her soulmate in her arms. The brunette's arms immediately goes around Hope, her hands holding the tribrid's shirt in fists. She willingly accepts the comfort. Hope holds her tight, ready to fight whoever hurt her soulmate. She focuses herself on Josie for a while, but when her eyes drift away and land on curious students staring at them, Hope knows they need to move.

"Let me take you to my room, people are staring." Hope gently suggests.

Josie nods, and then the Mikaelson girl slowly guides her back to school and to her room. Josie calmed down a little and her tears are back to being silent ones. When they get into Hope's room, the tribrid guides them to her bed and they silently sit down. Josie leans her head on Hope's shoulder. The auburn haired girl stops breathing for a second when the brunette reaches for her hand, but she lets her intertwine their fingers. 

"Lizzie is hitting it off with Raf, and MG made out with Penelope." Josie says, her voice broken. 

Hope clenches her jaw. So she had guessed right, Josie has a crush on Raf. No, she can't think about her jealousy right now. She has to focus herself on Josie.

"Bad friend move." Hope softly says.

Josie chuckles and lifts her head to look at the tribrid. "Wow, even you know that." 

Hope smiles. "I watch TV, you know. I learned a lot about friendship that way." 

The brunette smiles. "Yeah, I can see that." Josie bites her lip. "Hope, would you mind if we layed down? When I'm sad I like to cuddle."

Hope straight to god blushes at the idea. "Okay."

They both lay on Hope's bed, the tribrid on her back and Josie on her side. Josie's body is pressed against Hope's right side, and suddenly she understands why she got so jealous when she saw Penelope pressed up against Josie almost a year ago. This feels absolutely fantastic. The tribrid's arm is wrapped around Josie's shoulder, and the brunette's head is resting on Hope's collarbone right where her soul mark is. Soul mark… Josie would get hers tomorrow. She needs to tell her, and she needs to tell her now.

"Josie… There's something I have to tell you."

No answer from the brunette, she doesn't even move. Hope frowns and looks down, only to see that her soulmate already fell asleep. The tribrid sighs, it would have to wait until the morning. At least Josie would wake up here, in her arms and she could tell the brunette before she discovers her soul mark.

* * *

Hope wakes up as soon as she feels Josie's weight is gone. When her eyes open, she quickly looks for the brunette and finds her. Josie's near the door and putting her shoes on.

"Hey, you're up." Josie says with a smile. "Thank you for last night."

"You're welcome… Are you already leaving?"

"Oh, yeah. I need to go back to my room, Lizzie is freaking out because I didn't sleep there and it's our birthday so-"

"Yeah, about that-"

"I'll see you later, right? You'll come to the party this year." Josie says eyes full of hope.

"Josie, I need to tell you som-"

A ringing stops Hope's sentence. Josie quickly gets her phone out of her pocket.

"It's Lizzie, I gotta take it and leave. See you later Hope!"

Josie opens the door and leaves.

"Happy birth-" The door closes. "I'm so screwed."

* * *

About two hours later, Josie comes fuming into Hope's room, followed by Alaric and Lizzie.

"You knew! For almost two years you've known." 

Hope makes the very stupid decision to play dumb. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She gets a glare from Lizzie and Alaric rolls his eyes. Josie walks until she stands a few centimeters away from Hope.

"Don't you dare act dumb. We're soulmates, we literally share a soul!"

"Oh, that." Hope swallows with difficulty. "I tried telling you. I just-"

"You should have told me when you learned about it. How do you think I reacted when I saw your name tattooed on my hip this morning?"

"Your mark is on your hip?" Hope frowns. "Mine is on my collarbone."

"Hope! Focus." 

"I'm sorry. I know it's a shock, but it doesn't have to mean anything."

Hope's words seems to hurt Josie way worst than a slap would've. The brunette's eyes fill with tears and she walks even closer to Hope, their faces so close they could lean in and they'd be kissing.

"It has to mean something. The word itself means something to me." Josie is angry now, and there's venom in her voice. "You have no right to treat this as an every day thing."

Before Hope can react, Josie turns around and walks to the door. Before she walks out, Josie turns around to look at Hope one last time.

"You better be at my birthday party tonight Hope." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I wanna thank all of you for the wonderful reactions I got last chapter. 
> 
> I hope this chapter was to your liking!


	4. A perfect night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! 
> 
> I've been getting a chapter out everyday for three days now!
> 
> Isn't that amazing?
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the birthday party ;) It's full of fluff.

The music is so loud downstairs that Hope hears it all the way to her room. The tribrid has been pacing around for more than two hours. She's desperately trying to come up with a plan, something to make things right. She just needs to make Josie understand that their marks don't have to mean something, that they don't have to be together. Trapping the brunette in an unwanted relationship is the last Hope wants. They could go back to the way they were before. Okay, maybe not. They could at least be friends. 

Hope looks at the time. The party started almost an hour ago. The Mikaelson girl walks to look herself in the mirror. Her wine colored dress looks great, and her hair looks good enough. She should just go now, but she just can't shake the nervousness she's feeling. She'd never seen Josie as pissed as she was earlier when she learned about their soul bond. Hope knew she wouldn't be too happy about it, but her reaction was kinda surprising. 

Hope sighs, she needs to gather her courage and just go. She opens the door of her room, only for Lizzie Saltzman to come storming inside her room. 

"What the hell is taking you so long, you stupid dog?" The blonde yells at Hope.

"Excuse me?" Hope says, slowly getting angry.

"My sister is having zero fun at our birthday party because she's looking for you every two seconds. So now, move your ass and join us downstairs."

Lizzie turns around, ready to storm out the same way she stormed in, but Hope's is quick enough to stop her. Hope grabs her wrist, making the blonde turn around. Lizzie's angry features quickly turn to confused ones when she sees Hope's panicked state.

"Does she, like, hate me? She feels like I'm ruining her life, right?" 

"What? No, she… wait, I shouldn't be answering that. Ask Josie!" Lizzie rolls her eyes and takes back her arm, fully intending to exit Hope's room, but she stops at the door. "This conversation should have happened almost two years ago. Stop running from it."

Then Lizzie's gone. Hope closes her eyes, takes a couple of deep breaths, and then she walks out of her room too. The music gets louder as she gets closer to the party, and gets deafening when she's at the top of the stairs. The auburn haired girl stands there for a couple of seconds. She looks through the crowd until her eyes fall on her soulmate, and suddenly her heart skips a beat. Josie has always been beautiful, but tonight she's just drop dead gorgeous. Her hair is simply falling down on her shoulders in natural waves. The brunette is wearing a simple sleeveless light pink dress, but somehow it feels like something is missing. Hope tightens her holds on the little box in her hand, it would be perfect. 

Soon after Hope's eyes find Josie, the brunette's eyes find her too. Their eyes lock, and a relieved smile appears on the Saltzman girl's face. Hope starts to walk down the stairs, quickly attracting lots of curious eyes. As Hope makes her way down, Josie walks to the bottom of the stairs and waits for her. Hope expected Josie to still be angry, but the brunette doesn't seem mad anymore. A soft song starts to play, and couples quickly fill the dance floor.

"Can I have this dance?" Josie asks, her voice small and hesitant.

"It's your birthday, shouldn't I be the one asking you for a dance? Besides, don't you have a line of people waiting to take you to the dance floor?"

Josie's smile softens, and she shakes her head sheepishly. "I turned everyone down. I was waiting for you."

"Oh…" Hope feels the blush on her cheeks, and the eyes on them.

"So, are you gonna dance with me?"

"Under one condition, let me give you your gift now."

Josie's smile widens. "Okay, I can do that."

Hope smiles back and opens the little box she's been carrying with her for the past two months. It contains a small necklace made of silver with a round pendant. Hope's eyes scan Josie's face, and what she sees on it sends butterflies flying around in her stomach. What was that girl doing to her? 

"Could you put it on me please?" Josie asks, already turning around.

Josie gathers her hair in her hands and pulls it softly to the left side of her neck, leaving space for Hope to put the necklace on. The view of Josie's exposed neck is doing weird things to the Mikaelson girl. Something between possessiveness and want. Hope takes a deep breath to calm herself down, and very gently puts the necklace on her soulmate. By the time she's done, the song fades and is replaced by a fast beat one. Josie turns around with a disappointed smile.

"We missed it."

"I'm sure it's not the only slow song on the playlist." Hope says to try and comfort Josie.

The witch smiles. "You're right."

"Josie… would you come out for a walk with me? I feel like we need to talk."

Josie slowly shakes her head. "No. I'm sorry, but not tonight. It's my birthday, and I want to have fun. I just want to spend time with you and my friends."

Josie's eyes fall on a table where MG, Lizzie, Kaleb, Rafael and Landon are sitting. They all seemed to have fun, Hope has to admit that. The thing is, she never did this before. Blending in isn't what she'd call her strong suit.

"Y-you want me to join you?"

Josie chuckles and nods. "Yes, Hope. Do it for me, okay? You owe me that since you spent two years not telling me we're soulmates."

"Are you trying to make me feel bad to make me agree?" Hope says with a smirk.

"Yeah, is it working?" Josie says smiling as she bites her bottom lip.

Hope playfully rolls her eyes. "Of course it is. But, uh, do they know about-"

"No. Only Lizzie knows."

So Hope willingly follows Josie to her table. Everyone looks rather surprised to see the tribrid joining them, but they all say they're happy she's there. For the next hour, Hope suffers through Lizzie's poking, Landon's awkwardly trying to flirt with her and Josie glaring at him. As soon as a slow song starts, Hope stands up. Every eyes fall on her, but hers immediately go to Josie.

"I promised you a dance." Hope offers her hand to Josie.

Josie smiles and accepts Hope's invitation. They walk together to the dance floor, and quickly there are couples all around them, including Lizzie and Rafael. Hope is highly suspicious that Lizzie dragged Rafael on the dance floor just to spy on them, but she doesn't say anything about it. Josie's hands meet behind Hope's neck, and the tribrid puts her own hands on Josie's waist. They slowly sway around for a couple of seconds before Hope decides it's time to speak.

"I agreed to not bring the whole soul mark thing up tonight, but you understand that we'll have to talk about it after that, right? We need to know where we stand, and how we're gonna handle it."

Josie's eyes meet Hope's, and the tribrid is not sure of what she sees in them. Hurt? Hesitation? Confusion? Sadness? 

"I understand perfectly Hope. Let me just have tonight, where I can pretend my soulmate story is a flawless one."

Hope swallows with difficulty, but she still nods. The tribrid gently tightens her hold on Josie's waist, bringing her closer in the process. Her jealousy over Penelope Park the year before was totally right. Holding Josie like this, in the middle of a very crowded dance floor, felt like heaven. It feels as though they're the stars of some dumb romantic movie, and Hope doesn't even care. Josie wanted to have a perfect night, well Hope could offer her that. It's the least she could do actually, after trapping Josie in an unwanted soulmate story.

When the song is done, it's quickly replaced by some pop song Hope doesn't recognize. However, when Josie tries to pull away and walk back to their table, Hope doesn't let her.

"You said you wanted to have fun, so let's have fun!"

Josie's smile gets wide, and she quickly follows Hope's moves on the dance floor. Josie's friends quickly join them, and soon they're owning the dance floor Everyone's a little impressed by MG's moves, and by his choice of partner. The boy is quick to pull Hope in and dance with her. Hope laughs more in an hour, than she laughed in the last two years. When MG lets her go, Hope goes back to Josie's side. The brunette opens her mouth to say something, but instead of words it's a yawn that comes out. Then she gives Hope a sheepish smile.

"I think I'm tired, and my feet are totally killing me right now." 

Hope nods. "Do you want me to walk you to your room?"

"I'd love that actually."

They quickly say goodbye before leaving under the eyes of nearly everyone in the room. Hope can literally feel Lizzie glare at her, but she doesn't care. The soulmate thing was between Josie and her. Just as they're about to walk out of the party's doors, Josie reaches for Hope's hand, and the tribrid lets her take it. They walk hand in hand to the twins' room, in a comfortable silence. When they get there, Josie stops and turns to look at Hope, but she doesn't let go of her hand. Instead, she reaches for Hope's other hand too.

"So, the perfect night is ending, uh?" Josie says with a hint of sadness in her voice. 

"Yeah." Hope sighs. "Would you meet me tomorrow morning? On the old deck where I usually train with your father."

Josie smiles and nods. "I will." She takes a deep breath. "Good night Hope."

The brunette leans in and places a soft kiss on Hope's cheek, leaving the tribrid completely frozen in place. Josie giggles, turns around and opens her door. She looks over her shoulder with a smile one last time before she disappears in her bedroom.

Hope's fingers slowly find the place where Josie's lips where a couple of seconds ago. Yep, she's screwed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a real fluff fest, right? :D
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it my friends.


	5. Rejection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!
> 
> I'm back with another chapter!
> 
> Enjoy!!
> 
> Thank you for your support, it means the world to me :D

"Higher!" Alaric yells when Hope's foot lands in his hand instead of his ribs.

Hope's foot lands on the ground, and she glares at her mentor. She knows where her kick was supposed to land. She faints an attack, before turning on her feet and landing a kick right where it's supposed to go. Alaric lands on the ground, clutching his ribs, clearly in pain but with a satisfied smile playing on his lips.

"See, I knew you could do it." The man says.

Hope rolls her eyes and moves closer to him. She offers him a hand to help him stand again, and he immediately takes it. The man stands but not without wincing.

"Are your training sessions always this harsh?" 

Both Alaric and Hope turn as soon as they hear Josie's voice. The brunette is walking closer to the training duo with a shy smile. Alaric smiles at his daughter, and Hope forces herself to look away from her soulmate.

"Good morning sweet heart." Alaric says before hugging his daughter.

"Mornin' dad." Josie scrunches her nose in disgust. "Ew, you're all sweaty."

"Sorry." He gave her a little smile. "Were you looking for me? Or…"

Josie's cheeks take a light pink color. "I agreed to meet up with Hope here last night." 

Alaric look between Josie and Hope, after a couple of seconds, his eyes land on Josie one last time.

"Of course, I'll be in my office, if you ever need me."

The man gives one last warning look to Hope before walking off towards the school. The Mikaelson girl takes a large sip from her water bottle before putting it back in her gym bag. It's only then that Josie dares to move a little closer.

"Thanks for last night. It was all kinds of perfect."

Hope smiles. "It was the least I could do. Do you wanna sit down with me?"

Josie nods, and then she follows Hope as the tribrid sits on the deck, her legs hovering above the water. As soon as they're both sitting, Josie's eyes fall on Hope. She suddenly remembers just where Hope's soul mark is situated, and she quickly tries to get a look at it. The tribrid is wearing a tank top and if Josie's lucky, maybe she could get a little look at it.

"I can show you my mark, if that's what you're looking for." Hope suggests with a playful smirk. 

Josie blushes hard and look away. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Hope's smirk turns into a soft smile before she pushes the part of her tank top that's covering her soul mark. "You can look if you want to. It's nothing special, just your name written in what is apparently your handwriting."

Josie hesitates, but then her curiosity gets the best of her. When her eyes land on the black ink on Hope's collarbone, they grow bigger. It almost felt unreal. Her name was tattooed on Hope Mikaelson's body. Hope was hers, and she was Hope's. 

Suddenly Hope's quickly covers the mark and lifts a hand to Josie's cheek. "Why are you crying?"

It's only when Hope's thumb gently wipes away her tear that Josie realizes that she's indeed crying. The emotions were just so overwhelming that the tears had started to spill without her realizing it. Josie smiles through her tears and shakes her head. She looks away and wipe her own tears away.

"I didn't mean to get emotional." Josie says, and it sounds a lot like an apology.

Hope nods and gives her a comforting smile. "It's okay."

They stay in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. Hope is trying to gather her thoughts, making a plan in her head of the things she needs to tell Josie. The brunette is still letting everything sink in, when suddenly something Hope said a couple of minutes ago comes back to her.

"You're wrong, it's special." Hope gives Josie a confused look. "The mark. It's a very special thing. It means so many things, and-"

"Josie, stop. Please." Hope closes her eyes and inhales deeply. "This is not some kind of fairy tale. It's just my crazy genetics acting up again. The universe is out to get me, and this is just another way it found to fuck with me."

"How can you say something like that?"

"Because everything in my life is a cosmic mistake! I wasn't meant to happen in the first place. I'm a witch, werewolf and vampire tribrid. And now this, a soul mark."

"It's not just happening to you, you know?!" Josie angrily says. "I got it too, maybe it has nothing to do with your genetics and more to do with you sharing a soul with me! You need to stop acting like the victim of some kind of prank the universe prepared for you."

Hope looks pissed for a moment, then a smile gently plays on her lips. She looks away from Josie and back to the lake.

"So what? What do you want me to do Josie? Ride off in the sunset with you? 'Cause that's not happening. I want nothing to do with this whole soulmate thing."

The weight on Hope's shoulders should feel lighter now that she told the Saltzman girl she'd get to be free, but she still feels like she's carrying the weight of the world. From the corner of her eyes, the tribrid sees the hurt on Josie's face, but her own face stays emotionless. Josie didn't deserve to be tied down in an unwanted relationship. She deserves to find someone who will love her completely, and not someone who'll bring her nothing but suffering and death.

The words Hope just said are enough to break Josie's heart in a million pieces. She's getting rejected again, and this time by the one person who's supposed to want her forever. This time, when tears build up in her eyes, the brunette feels them. She quickly wipes them and stands up. 

"Well, you couldn't be more clear about how you feel." Josie says with a small voice.

The brunette starts to walk away, but Hope can't let her go like that. She doesn't want to be a burden to Josie, but letting the brunette hate her wasn't really in Hope's plan either.

"Wait, Josie please." Josie stops but she doesn't turn around, and Hope takes it as a sign the younger girl doesn't want to face her. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I-I… We could be friends."

Josie takes a deep breath, and prays for her voice to not give away the tears still falling on her cheeks. 

"Yeah, okay."

Without another word, Josie walks back to the school under the worried eyes of her soulmate. Hope felt a very different kind of pain now. She'd never felt that kind of pain before. It feels like her heart is gonna explode from sadness, or maybe it's just breaking into pieces. The auburn haired girl places a hand over her chest where she knows her heart is, and wonders what's happening to her.

* * *

Hope wakes up about an hour after she got to bed. Her heart is in so much pain, and she doesn't know where it comes from. She recognizes the feeling she got earlier, and it makes her panic. She has a hard time to breath because the pain is unbearable. She quickly gets out of bed and makes her way to Dr. Saltzman's office, praying the man is still there.

When she gets to the office, she's surprised to see the door slightly open. The worry quickly take the place of her pain, and she quickly pushes the door open wide. She's surprised when the eyes of her mentor and her soulmate fall on her. Josie is sitting on the couch in her father's arms. What catches Hope's eyes quickly is the fact that Josie is crying. The sight of her crying soulmate makes Hope place a hand on her own heart again.

"Hope? What are you doing here so late?" Alaric asks.

"I-I think I can feel Josie's emotional pain." Hope blurts out.

Josie and her father look at each other, their eyes equally big. That's why Hope decides to explain herself.

"Earlier, I told Josie I want nothing to do with this soulmate thing and it hurt her. I had this pain in my chest when she walked away, but I… I just thought it was my own pain. And tonight, I woke up because the same pain came back. This time it felt ten times worse, and I felt like I couldn't breathe."

"The pain, how does it feel like?" Josie asks, her voice as small as it was earlier.

"Like my heart is breaking. Like it's falling into pieces, or like it's getting ready to explode. It's very overwhelming."

Josie turns to look at her father again. "That's how I feel when I'm upset dad."

Alaric tiredly runs a hand over his face. "Dorian said the bond could come with some 'perks', and I guess this is one of them."

"It's always gonna be like this? I'm always gonna feel it when Josie's feelings get hurt?" 

"Maybe, I don't know. No one knows. This soulmate bond is a rare thing, and the 'perks' are different with every one of the case that were in our books."

"So there's no way to stop it?"

Alaric glares at his student. "Stop being mean to your soulmate."

Hope swallows hard and looks down. "I wasn't mean. Or maybe I was. I just… didn't mean to hurt her." Hope's eyes go from Dr. Saltzman to Josie. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I wanted to set you free. I didn't want to burden you with a relationship you never asked for."

"Did you even think to ask me how I felt about this whole thing? Because you just seem to assume you know what's good for me."

Hope shakes her head. "No! You just don't realize what it would mean to get too close to me. I don't know if you noticed this Josie, but people I care about have a tendency to die." Hope is getting frustrated and she moves closer to the couch, her face betraying how she feels. "I feel like you think this is some kind of fairy tale, and that we're gonna live happily ever after. My life has never been a fairy tale, and I don't think it's gonna start now. If you don't want your life to start looking like a drama or a horror movie, then stay away from me!"

Josie's face went through a lot of emotions during Hope's speech. Sadness, hurt and then anger. 

"You don't get to push me away just because you're scared." Josie says, her voice as steady as possible. "You're so scared of letting yourself care for someone again, that you prefer to stay alone and suffer from your loneliness. I don't think the universe is messing with you this time, I think it's trying to help you."

Josie moves closer to Hope and reaches for her hands, but the Mikaelson girl quickly takes a step back.

"I'm not hearing any of this nonsense anymore." Hope turns around and starts to walk out of the room.

"I won't let you push me away Hope! Not this time." Josie calls out to her. 

Hope slams the door of the office behind her. She walks back to her room fuming and maybe a little scared of what's to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It got kinda ugly :/ Sorry about that. It won't last long though. This is gonna get fluffy real quick.


	6. The pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! 
> 
> Sooo, who was waiting for a new chapter? :D
> 
> Thank you so much for your comments, they make me so happy!

"Josie, I'm not sure it's a good idea." Alaric says, looking between his daughter and Hope. 

"Yeah, this is a terrible idea." Hope says as she crosses her arms clearly not pleased.

Josie frowns. "Dad! You always said you'd train Lizzie and I if we're willing to train with Hope. Now I'm willing to train with Hope, so train me."

Hope rolls her eyes. "The situation changed, and I'm way too powerful to train with a human now."

Josie glares at Hope, so angry that the older girl refuses to spend time with her. Hope glares back, frustrated that Josie refuses to keep her distance. Alaric feels trapped between them. He wants his daughter to be happy, but he can't force Hope to be with Josie. 

"How about, we try today, and if it doesn't work, we don't do it again?"

"That's fine with me." Hope says with a sigh.

"Yeah, with me too, but only if you keep in mind that I never did this before." Josie says.

Alaric looks between the two girls, runs a tired hand over his face and sighs.

"Let's do this."

To everyone's surprise, Josie handles herself fine. She's a fast learner, she listens and do as she's told. Hope can see the brunette is quickly getting tired though, but endurance comes with time. When the session is done, Hope hasn't break a sweat but Josie is visibly tired. The Saltzman girl is kinda out of breath, and looks relieved that it's over.

"So…" Josie says, and pauses to catch her breath. "Can I come back tomorrow?"

Her question is directed to Hope, and the auburn haired girl quickly looks elsewhere. The auburn haired girl busies herself with drinking huge sips of her water bottle. 

"You're welcome to join us tomorrow morning, right Hope?" Alaric says, directing a glare at his student.

Hope stops drinking and looks at the man. "I guess."

"Good, now I'll head back to school. Be civil girls, okay?"

"Yes dad." 

Hope forces a smile and nods. The man leaves, and then Hope quickly puts her things back inside her bag, determined to leave as soon as she could too. 

"What did you think? It wasn't that bad, right?"

Hope turns to her right and is kinda startled to see Josie so close to her. She gives the brunette a little smile and a nod, then looks back down to close her bag. From the corner of her eyes, Hope can see the smile on Josie's lips, and it makes her want to turn around so bad. Fighting herself and staying away from Josie proved to be harder than she thought it would be. The thing is, Josie doesn't accept to be ignored. 

"Could you at least talk to me? We agreed to be friends, didn't we?"

"You did good Josie." Hope sighs out as she puts the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

The Mikaelson girl starts to walk towards the school, quickly followed by Josie. The brunette walks to Hope's side, and the tribrid can actually feel the younger girl's eyes on her. 

"Can you stop that?" Hope asks, irritated.

"Stop what?"

"Looking at me."

Josie rolls her eyes. "Oh, I can't ever look at you now."

"Not like that!"

"Like what?" 

"Like you're waiting for something. Like you want me to say or do something. Just… stop it." 

To Hope's total surprise, Josie stops walking. The tribrid almost stop too, but instead she looks over her shoulder. She's surprised to see Josie heading in another hallway. Hope turns her head to look ahead of herself. For a moment, she feels relieved. Relieved because Josie finally understood that they're better off separated. However, an oddly familiar pain soon fills her chest and Hope's heart sink. Josie must be crying because of her. Again. 

Instead of heading to class, Hope goes straight to her room. As soon as the door is closed, Hope throws her bag on the other side of the room. The pain is unbearable. The Mikaelson girl gets under her blanket and curls herself into a ball. She just needs it to stop.

* * *

To Hope's total surprise, Josie keeps coming back to their training sessions. Every day the girl gets better, and Hope can't help but feel a little bit proud of her soulmate. 

The only thing that bugs Hope is the fact that Josie is taking her distance now. The brunette hasn't tried to make conversation with her for about a week now. Josie only speaks to Hope when she absolutely needs to. There's no lingering looks anymore, no small talk. 

After a total of ten days of this "Josie" silent treatment, Hope can't take it. Deep down, she knows Josie still cares. She feels her pain almost every night (even if now, Hope is starting to think this pain is partly her own). But Hope just needs to be sure. She needs to know Josie is not just shutting her out.

Alaric had to leave early today. He said something about finding Landon's mother. So, he left the girls alone to train, knowing full well Hope can handle training Josie. The Mikaelson girl has been wondering how she could get Josie to talk to her since the brunette always seems to disappear after their training time. 

So Hope decides to take advantage of their training time. As soon as she can, Hope sends Josie to the ground, as gently as she can. She quickly gets on top of the younger girl, using her weight to pine her to the ground. Josie tries to set herself free, but she doesn't manage to. It's then that she seems to realize that Hope did it on purpose. Josie stops struggling and looks into Hope's eyes, and that when Hope decides to speak.

"You're giving me the silent treatment now?"

Josie rolls her eyes. "I'm only giving you what you want."

Hope frowns. "I never asked you to stop talking to me."

"No, but you asked me to stop looking at you. So I stopped." Josie tries to push Hope off of her one more time and groans when Hope doesn't move. "Get off!"

Josie uses her hands to try and push Hope off, but Hope is having none of it. She uses both of her hands and pines Josie's hands to the ground.

"I feel your pain every night." Hope says, her face closer to Josie's than it was before.

Josie doesn't avoid Hope's eyes, instead she looks straight into them. It feels like Josie's looking straight into Hope's soul, and the Mikaelson girl couldn't look away even if she tried.

"That's only fair since you're the one hurting me." Josie says, her voice stone cold.

Josie's words are like a slap to Hope's face. The tribrid's hold loosen and Josie takes her chance to switch their position. Now that she's on top, Josie rests her hands on Hope's shoulders. When the Mikaelson girl looks up at the brunette, Josie can see the vulnerability in Hope's eyes. 

"Everything would be so simple if you'd only let yourself care."

It doesn't take a second for Hope to reply. "I've always cared."

Josie frowns, confused because it's clear to see Hope's being honest. The Saltzman girl straightens herself, but her eyes stay on Hope. The auburn haired girl doesn't move, and she doesn't try to free herself.

"If you care, then why don't you show it?" Josie asks, her voice suddenly a lot smaller than before.

"I told you. You'd be in danger by being with me." Hope says.

Before Josie can say anything more, Hope sits up and it results with Josie sitting in Hope's lap. The Saltzman twin is about to move off of Hope, but then the tribrid gently puts her hands on Josie's back, keeping her close.

"I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt because of me." Hope sighs. "Our marks, they don't mean we have to be together. They mean-"

"They mean we complete each other." Josie cuts Hope. "They mean were two sides of the same coin, like the moon and the sun."

Hope is taken aback by Josie's knowledge about their marks.

"I did some research." Josie smiles and hesitantly lifts a hand until it's near Hope's face. Very delicately, the brunette puts a strand of auburn hair behind Hope's ear. "Did you?"

Hope swallows with difficulty. Their closeness is suddenly unbearable. Having Josie in her arms, touching her and being touched by her… It's driving Hope totally insane. She wonders if Josie feels the same. Hope tries to form a coherent answer, but then her eyes are attracted by the brunette's bare neck. Josie pulls her hair in a bun or in a ponytail for their training, which is smart, but gives Hope a perfect view of her neck. Something deep in Hope makes her want to mark Josie, to make her even more hers. It's the second time Hope feels it, the first one happened during Josie's birthday party.

"... you okay? Hope?" 

Josie's voice finally snaps Hope out of those thoughts. The Mikaelson girl gently pushes Josie off of her lap and stands up. She needs to wolf out. The tribrid doesn't even take her bag, she walks straight into the forest, quickly followed by Josie.

"Hope! Where are you going?" Josie yells from behind her. "Please don't shift."

The Mikaelson girl stops. 

"Why?" Josie doesn't answer, so Hope turns around and with a serious frown she asks again. "Why don't you want me to wolf out?"

Deep down, Hope knows why Josie doesn't want her to shift into her wolf form, but she needs the brunette to tell her. Josie looks down, avoiding Hope's eyes. The tribrid closes her eyes and takes several deep breaths to calm herself. When she's trusting herself again, Hope walks closer to Josie. As gently as she can, Hope lifts Josie's chin up, making the brunette look at her.

"Josie, please."

"I can feel it when you change into your wolf form. It hurts… No, actually it's excruciating."

Hope takes a step back and then a second. She turns around, unable to face Josie anymore. Hope runs her hands in her hair, trying to keep her calm. She can't believe how bad she's been hurting Josie in the last two weeks. She's been shifting almost everyday to take the edge off and to be able to take Josie's emotional pain. 

When Hope feels Josie hand on her shoulder, her reaction is to pull away. Then, she turns around and looks at the brunette with wide eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea it was hurting you."

Josie shakes her head. "I should have said something. It's my fault."

"Please stop!" Hope yells. "I should have seen it. I was so focused on myself that I totally forgot to think about you. If I can feel your pain, of course you can feel mine. I'm so stupid."

"Don't say that… Just, try and shift less often, okay?" Josie gives Hope a little smile. "I-I just want to be with you. Which way is up to you. I'd be happy to just be your friend, but you have to let me in."

Hope sighs, but she smiles after that. "I'll try, but only if you promise to tell me when something hurts you."

Josie's smile gets bigger. "I promise, but I need you to promise something to me too." Hope nods. "Promise me you won't push me away again."

Hope swallows hard but nods. "Again, I'll try."

"That's not good enough. Promise me."

"I promise."

"Good. Now, can we go back to school? I'm exhausted, and I could definitely use a shower."

Together, they walk back to school in comfortable silence. Josie looks at Hope sometimes, stealing glances. Hope can feel it, but this time she doesn't say anything. She'd have to accept this kind of attention now. 

They walk by their training dock and quickly get their bags before heading to school. After they walk through the doors, they say their goodbyes. Hope notices how bright Josie's smile is and it makes her want to smile too. She walks back to her room alone, but with butterflies flying around her stomach. 

She's in so much trouble, and now there's no going back.


	7. Wolf form

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! 
> 
> I promised some of you a chapter for today! So here it is :D
> 
> It's almost 3 thousand words :O

Spending more time with Josie proves to be… pleasant. The brunette has a nice easy smile, a kindness that has no matches and a way of caring Hope is not used to. The Mikaelson family have a different way of caring than Josie. They protect, they defend. Josie's type of caring is more in the every day things. The brunette makes sure Hope eats well, that she sleeps enough and that's she's overall happy. It feels good, and Hope is slowly getting used to it. 

"Are we still on for movie night?" Josie asks with a hopeful smile.

Hope opens her mouth to answer, but she's quickly cut off.

"Did I hear movie night?" Lizzie says as she walks into the common room with MG and Kaleb.

"And we're not invited?" MG adds.

"Since when are you two close enough to have a movie night anyway?" Kaleb asks, with a confused frown. 

Hope and Josie look at each other, and when Hope sees the fondness on Josie's face, she can't help but blush a little and look down. This reaction gets them weird looks from the two boys who have no idea they're soulmates. 

"Are you guys dating? 'Cause I won't lie, that'd be hot." Kaleb asks with a smirk.

MG slaps his arms. "Apologize to the ladies."

Kaleb rolls his eyes. "No way, I'm only speaking the truth."

"Stop it guys." Josie says with a smile. "We're not dating, just friends. We're training partners now." Josie turns her attention to Hope, who's still recovering from her blush. "Want to make this movie night friend inclusive? Or just the two of us?"

The tribrid shrugs. "They can join us, but I only have snacks for the two of us."

"I can totally be on snack duty." MG says with a bright smile.

"I have some suggestions for the movies-" Lizzie tries.

"No." Josie shakes her head. "Hope and I already chose the movies, sorry."

Lizzie groans. "And what are they?"

"Pacific Rim and Power Rangers." Hope replies.

Lizzie's eyes widen. "What are you? Two twelve year old boys?"

"Are you kidding me?" MG says excitedly. "It's awesome!"

"It's two action movies, we could at least-"

Josie sighs. "Lizzie, drop it." The brunette takes her bag and stands up. "I'm going to class, I don't wanna be late. I'll see you all later."

"Wait, where are we watching the movies?" Kaleb asks.

Josie glances at Hope, not sure if their plan could still stand. "Well, we were supposed to watch them in Hope's room, but-"

Hope shakes her head. "It's fine. We can watch them in my room."

"Perfect." Josie smiles one last time and walk out of the common room.

Hope grabs her own bag, ready to go to class too. She walks to class under the suspicious eyes of Lizzie, the bright smile of MG and the smirk of Kaleb. Hope is still asking herself if having friends is a good thing or not. 

Being Josie's friend was great, and totally worth hanging out with other people though.

* * *

The tribrid looks around her room one last time as she waits for her guests to come over. The bed is neatly made. She placed cushions on the floor for those who won't fit on the bed. Everything looks tidy and the movies are ready to be played. This is way more stressful than she thought it would be. 

Hope is a little startled when there's a knock on her door. She quickly recovers and goes to open the door. The first face she sees when she opens the door is Josie's. The brunette has her brightest smile on, a smile that Hope does her best to reciprocate. Josie's wearing a cute grey pyjama, and Hope forces herself to not let her eyes linger for too long. Behind Josie, there's her friens and sister, all ready for movie night. It was kinda weird to see her classmates in their pyjamas, but well, it's a movie night.

"Hi." Josie says, and subtly tries to silently tell Hope she needs to let them in.

The tribrid blushes and opens the door wider. "Hi, uh, come in."

Everyone says their hellos as they walk inside the room. Hope stays by the door, and she knows she's tense. After she closes the door, the tribrid feels a gentle hand on her forearm. Josie stayed near and gives her a gentle smile.

"No need to be so anxious. It's just a movie night with friends." Josie quietly says, even though there's two vampires in the room. 

Hope is grateful for Josie's thoughtfulness. "I'm just not used to it."

"Hey Hope! Is that your family?" MG asks.

Hope turns around and looks at Kaleb. When she sees the picture in his hand, she wants to snatch it away. She doesn't need anyone to tell her her family is made of monsters tonight. 

"Yeah, it's them." Lizzie says, as she gets a closer look. "I've met some of them."

"The Mikaelson's in all their glory." Kaleb says with a big smile. "I wish I could meet your aunt Rebekah man, she's so damn pretty."

Lizzie rolls her eyes. "Hope's mom was so much prettier though."

Hope is so surprised by their words that she stays frozen in place. She was so used of hearing bad things about her family, that hearing people say things like that warmed her heart. The only thing that makes her unfreeze is when Josie's hand slip into hers. Josie's still smiling as she gently guides them to sit on Hope's bed.

"How about we start the movie night, and leave the sore subject behind?" Josie says.

Kaleb put the picture back on Hope's desk with an embarrassed smile, a smile that's matched by Lizzie and MG. 

"I claim MG as my cuddling partner for the night. He's the best for that." Lizzie says.

The blonde grabs MG's hand and goes to sit on the cushions Hope put on the floor earlier, and MG is all too happy to follow her. Kaleb sits down on Hope's desk chair.

"I'll take the chair."

Hope watches them all get comfortable, and then she realizes that it only leaves her one option, to share the bed with Josie. She turns to look at the brunette.

"I can sit on the floor with MG and Lizzie." Josie suggests with an understanding smile.

"What? No, there's plenty of space on the bed. We can share." Hope blurts out.

Josie looks unsure. "I don't want you to be tense for the whole movie Hope."

Hope shakes her head. "I won't be. I promise." She smiles and nudges Josie's ribs with her elbow. "Come on, my bed is really comfortable."

It takes her a couple of seconds, but then Josie is smiling too. "Okay."

So they settle on each side of the bed, keeping a little distance between them. Once they're done, Hope looks at Josie, only to make eye contact with the younger witch. The brunette smiles a little before looking back at the TV. Hope swallows the lump in her throat and looks ahead too. She's suddenly very grateful for Lizzie, MG and Kaleb's presence. 

MG and Lizzie are quietly speaking on the floor, and Kaleb is already eating the snacks in his chair. It makes Hope think of the snacks she prepared for Josie and her. Hope reaches for them, all perfectly placed on her nightstand.

"Do you want something?" Hope asks.

Josie takes some chocolate. "Chocolate is my favorite snack." 

"Good to know." Hope says with a smile

"Stop flirting and start the movie Mikaelson!"

"Lizzie!" Josie protests, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. 

"Let's just start the movie." Hope says and presses play on the remote.

As soon as the movie starts, and noises fill the room, Josie leans close to Hope's ear.

"I'm really sorry about Lizzie."

Hope doesn't move. She knows if she turns to look at Josie, their faces will be way too close. So her eyes stay on the screen as she answers.

"Don't be. Your sister's not your responsability. We both know we weren't flirting."

As soon as her words are out, Hope feels a hard pain in her chest. She turns her head without missing a beat.

"Why are you hurt?" Hope asks loudly, without thinking about the others in the room.

Every eyes is soon on them. 

"What's going on? Is Josie hurt? I don't smell blood." MG says quickly.

Hope can't help but glare at him, she opens her mouth to say something but Lizzie beats her to it. 

"What did you say again?"

"Nothing wrong! Right, Josie?" Hope looks at Josie.

The brunette forces a smile. "Everything is fine. Everyone drop it please."

Everyone does, except Hope. She gets a little closer to Josie, close enough for their shoulders to touch, then she leans close to her ear.

"I don't know what I said that hurt you, but I'm sorry." Hope whispers.

Josie turns her head, and what Hope was scared would happen, happens. They're nose to nose, almost touching.

"It's okay. I didn't think you could feel every little pain I feel."

Hope swallows and moves back a little, but the space between them stays small.

"I didn't know either. Maybe it's because we're close to each other. Like physically close."

Hope doesn't miss how Josie's eyes flicker to her lips before settling on her eyes again. It makes her feel nervous, but there's a hint of something else too, something she refuses to put a name on.

"Yeah, it must be that." Josie's smile is more genuine now. "Let's watch the movie, okay?"

Hope nods and looks back at the screen. The movie's not bad. It's not really her type, but it's okay and the story's good. From the corner of her eyes, Hope sees how invested Josie is. It makes a soft smile play on the tribrid's lips. When a character dies though, Hope feels pain in her chest again. When her eyes land on Josie, she's not surprised to see the brunette actually crying.

Hope slips her hand into Josie's. The witch immediately turns her head to look at Hope. The Mikaelson girl gives her soulmate a shy smile and squeezes her hand. Josie smiles back through her tears, and then she lays her head on Hope's shoulder. Hope does her best to not let herself tense up. She could accept some physical touch. It's nice and Josie feels warm. The brunette's smell reminds Hope of the fields of flowers not too far from the school. She loves running into those fields as a wolf.

She shouldn't have thought about her wolf, because now it feels like her whole skin is itching. It's been too long since she shifted and she knows it. Hope takes a deep breath to steady herself, but it just makes things worse because now her nose is filled with Josie's scent.

Hope pushes Josie away quickly and stands up. Every eyes is on her again, the movie forgotten. She's overwhelmed, and she needs to get away now.

Hope looks Josie straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry." 

And then she's running out of the door.

* * *

Hope's been running for hours, beating herself up over leaving Josie, over making her suffer through the change. Everytime it crosses her mind, Hope forces herself to run faster. When she runs at a certain speed, she can't think anymore, and she's free. 

But now her legs are burning, and the moon is starting to get down, leaving place to the sun. Hope knows she needs to go back to school. When she gets to the back of the Old Mill, where she usually leaves her spare clothes, Hope is surprised to find Josie there. The brunette witch is sitting on the ground, with a blanket over her shoulders. She has a flashlight balanced on her shoulder, and she's silently reading a book.

Hope doesn't shift back to her human form, instead she carefully walks closer to her soulmate. She doesn't wanna scare Josie, and if she's being honest, she doesn't know how she'll even react to Josie in this form.

When she steps on a twig, Josie's head snap up. Her eyes widen when she realizes there's a wolf in front of her. The surprise is quickly replaced by a comforting smile.

"Hope, it's you, right?" Hope does her best to nod. "Of course it's you. Are you okay? God I was so worried when you ran out. And then I felt the pain, and… I understood. It had been too long, right?"

Hope lets out a little whine. Josie's eyes fill with sadness. She sets her book to the side.

"Can you come here?"

Hope stops. She's not sure it's a good idea. Usually she felt like ripping humans apart. There's none of that now though.

"I trust you. Please, come closer."

Hope takes a couple of tentatives steps forward. Josie pushes her blanket to the side and gets closer too. They both stop when they're close enough to touch. Neither tries anything though, they both have an underlying fear. Hope is scared of hurting Josie, and Josie is scared of scaring Hope away.

"You're beautiful." Josie breathes out with a soft smile Hope now recognizes. Josie lifts a hand in the space separating them. "I wish I could touch you. Would you be okay with that?"

Hope tilts her head to the side, and then to answer Josie's question, she leans her head closer to Josie's hand. Josie closes the gap and her hand makes contact with Hope's head. The brunette's smile and eyes grow bigger as she feels how soft Hope's furr is. 

"Do you think we're soulmates even when you're in this form?"

It takes Hope about a minute to think about it, but then she makes up her mind. Hope leans closer to Josie's face and gives her a long lick.

"Ew! Hope!" Josie says with a giggle. "Was that your way of saying yes?" Hope barks. "I like you like this, you know? You seem to take the soulmate thing a lot better as a wolf."

Josie's words make Hope think again. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she felt a lot more free as a wolf, less burdened. Then, Hope focuses herself on Josie again and what she sees breaks her heart. Josie looks sad. Why doesn't she feel it? Hope walks closer and puts her head on Josie's chest, gently pushing her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be sad. I just wish your walls wouldn't be so high." Josie lifts her hand and gently pets Hope's head behind her ears. "I could make you happy, I know I could."

They stay like that for a while. Josie kneeling on the ground and petting Hope's head that is leaning against her chest. Actually, they stay like that until the sun starts to rise.

"The sun's getting up. You should probably shift back."

Hope pulls away and looks at Josie's face. The sadness is almost gone, but not totally, and Hope still can't feel it. Without thinking too much, Hope licks Josie's face one more time before walking away to change a little farther.

As she changes back, Hope hears Josie crying. As soon as she's back to human, Hope gets clothes on and run back to her soulmate. Josie is curled into a ball on the ground, and she's crying.

"Josie!" Hope quickly gets on her knees next to the brunette and pulls her in her arms. "You're okay, it's over."

Josie cries harder for a couple of minutes, her head buried in Hope's neck. It takes her some time to actually calm down, and Hope is there for the whole time. She holds Josie close, rocks her back and forth and whispers words of comfort.

"H-how can you go through this several times a week? It's agonizing."

Hope takes a deep breath, and this time Josie's smell is the thing that grounds her.

"I got used to it. I learned to welcome the pain, that's why it doesn't take me long to shift."

"I can't believe it lasts hours for some wolves."

Hope nods. "Yeah. It never took me that long. My father showed me how to take the pain."

Josie wipes her tears away, and tries to get up, but Hope's hold gets tighter. 

"We should get back to school Hope." Josie says, but her voice is wavering.

"I'll carry you." 

Josie's eyes grow big and a blush covers her cheeks before she looks down.

"You don't have to-"

"Please, let me do that for you."

Josie smiles, and nods. 

Hope carrying Josie into the school attracts the eyes of every student they meet in the hallways. Hope tries her best to not pay them any attention, but it proves to be hard. She focuses her attention on Josie, on the way the brunette rested her head on her shoulder. 

Soon enough, Hope gets to Josie's room, and with a simple spell, she gets it to open. Hope is grateful when she finds the twins' room empty. She carefully sets Josie on the bed, well aware that her soulmate fell asleep on their way to the school. The tribrid looks at Josie for a couple of seconds, just long enough to accept the feeling slowly growing in her chest.

Hope leans down and leaves a meaningful kiss to Josie's forehead. Then, she walks out of the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this!
> 
> They're getting there, one step at a time!


	8. Teddy bear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been 4 days!
> 
> Who's ready for fluff? (okay there's some angst... but the fluff is worth it. I hope.)

Hope is the first one to show up for their training session the day after the movie night. She's anxious to see Josie again, but at the same time she's dying to. Hope waits for Dr. Saltzman and Josie to show up, and when 10 minutes pass without them showing up, she starts to get worried. 

Just as she's about to leave the dock and go find them, Alaric joggs to her. 

"I'm sorry for making you wait Hope. I was with the twins."

"The twins? Is Josie okay?" Hope quickly asks.

Alaric smiles and shakes his head. "The twins are okay. Josie's just really exhausted. Physically, emotionally and psychologically. She asked us for space, so Lizzie and I decided that they're gonna room separately for a while."

Hope frowns. She can't help but think that it sounds nothing like Josie. At the same time, guilt slowly starts to eat up the tribrid. This is all her fault. She needs to do something and make this right. 

"Dr. Saltzman, would you mind if I skip this session?" Hope asks, already reaching for her bag.

Alaric sighs. "Hope, Josie wants space."

"Then she'll tell me herself." 

She walks away from him, not wasting any more time. Hope quickly stops by her room. There, she leaves her bag, but she doesn't take the time to change out of her training clothes. She does grab a little something for Josie though, she really hopes the younger girl will appreciate it. Then, she's out of her room and walking to Josie's room. She hesitates for around five or ten minutes before actually knocking on the door. For the first minute or two, she just stands in front of the door. Then she raises her fist, ready to knock, only to give up. She leans against the wall next to Josie's door, beating herself up and trying to gather the courage to actually knock on the door. 

She's about to actually go and knock when the door suddenly opens. Hope quickly hides her gift behind her back as Josie walks out of the door. The brunette stands frozen when she sees Hope leaning on the wall near her door.

"Josie…" Hope straightens up. "Hi."

"Hope, hi." Josie's voice sounds small. "W-What are you doing here?"

"You didn't come to our training session, and your dad told me… you asked for space." 

"Yeah." Josie pauses and closes the door of her room. "It counts for you too."

Hope's stops breathing for a second. The pain caused by Josie's words is sharp, unexpected. Hope's hold on the teddy bear tightens. 

"What's wrong? What did I do? I thought we were fine after the whole… me showing myself as a wolf."

Some students get out of a room and walk past them, leaving both girls tense. 

"I was heading to the kitchens, so…" Josie says as she tries walking by Hope.

Hope gently grabs Josie's wrist, keeping her from walking away.

"Please." The desperation in her own voice takes Hope by surprise.

Josie looks down at where Hope's hand is holding her wrist, and it slowly goes up, only to stop at Hope's collarbone. The tribrid frowns and her eyes follow Josie's, curious as to why the younger girl stopped there. Then she understands. She's still in her training tank top. Her soul mark is almost fully visible. 

"You're the one who always says that those marks mean something. You want me to believe it? Then don't push me away."

Josie's eyes lift to meet Hope's, and then it's as if time stops. Hope's hand moves from Josie's wrist and to her waist. For a moment, Josie wonders what exactly is happening. 

"I haven't seen yours. Would you show me?"

Hope doesn't even know what she's doing. The only thing she knows is she can't let her relationship with Josie go where it was about to go. And she needs to see Josie's mark. She needs to see the only thing that ties them together. Except those growing feelings she gets more and more often. 

Josie swallows with difficulty. "I'll show you… But I'm really hungry now."

"Okay. Tell me what you want and I'll get it for you."

"Hope, you don't need to do that. I can go to the kitchen myself."

"You need space, right? So stay in your room, and I'll get you some food." Hope suddenly thinks about the surprise she still has in her hand. "Here, I got this for you."

Josie smiles for the first time today. "You got me a teddy bear?"

"Uh, yeah. It's a long story, and I'll tell you later if you want. So, what do you wanna eat?"

Josie tells Hope what she'd like to eat, and then Hope is gone. It doesn't take her more than ten minutes to go to the kitchen, gather the food and come back to Josie's room. This time, Hope doesn't hesitate before knocking.

"Come in." Josie calls from inside the room.

Hope comes inside, sharing a smile with Josie as she comes in. She sets the food on Josie's desk, and the brunette comes to sit down to eat. 

"I hope I got everything you wanted." Hope nervously says.

"You got everything, and more." Josie says. "Sit down with me?"

Hope does just as Josie asks. The brunette doesn't waste any time to start eating. Hope silently watches her, trying to see if Josie is still feeling down.

"Tell me the story of the teddy bear."

"My mom used to get me a teddy bear whenever I was sick or hurt. One everytime she left me here after one of my visits home. I have tons of them in my New Orleans home, and some here too. The one I gave you is my favorite."

"Your favorite? You should keep it then."

"No. It's okay, I want you to have it."

Josie forces a smile and nods. "Why is it your favorite?"

"I got it on my first day here. It kept me company ever since."

"You won't have it to keep you company anymore if you give it to me."

"But I have you now. I don't need it as much as I used to." 

Josie avoids Hope's eyes. "Do you mean that? 'Cause I thought you didn't want me. I thought you didn't want anything to do with the soulmate thing."

"Josie… I'm sorry for what I said. I don't want to hurt you any more than I already did." Hope reaches for Josie's hand. "I want to try. I can't promise you anything. I want to at least be your friend, okay?"

"Having you as a friend is all I'm asking for." Josie says, tugging on Hope's hand to get her closer. "I'll never ask you for something else. Just to have you as someone that's close to me. I-I need you to be close to me."

Hope smiles a little smile, and then her mind shifts to something else.

"You said you'd show me your mark."

"Oh, yeah." 

Josie stands up, still holding Hope's hand in her's. She walks until they're both standing in the center of the room, and then she stops. Josie looks Hope in the eyes for a moment, and then her eyes drop. Slowly, she lifts her shirt, exposing her left hip to Hope. As soon as Hope's eyes catch sight of her name on Josie's skin, they turn gold. It's only for a second, but Josie catches it. Before the tribrid can stop herself, she raises a hand and lets her thumb touch the tattooed skin. 

"Hope…"

The Mikaelson girl gently places her hand on Josie's bare hip and brings her closer. She brings her other arm around Josie's waist, and the embrace feels right. The Saltzman girl shivers as she feels Hope's hand on her skin, and she has a hard time believing this is happening. Hope is holding her close, and it doesn't look like she's gonna let go soon. 

"No pushing each other away anymore, okay?" Hope says in Josie's ear, her voice shaking.

"Okay."


	9. Flower field

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you thought last chapter was too short... so this one is longer!

Hope feels Josie's eyes on her, and it makes studying harder than it's ever been. It was Josie's idea, for them to study together. Hope argued that it was pretty useless since they're a year apart, and don't study the same things, but Josie argued back that if she needed help, Hope could help her. Honestly, Hope didn't have it in her to refuse anything to Josie. 

It's been a week since they agreed to not push each other away anymore, and they've only grown closer. There's still some adjusting to do sometimes, but they take their time and do it. Josie learns that Hope needs space at least a couple of hours a day, and Hope learns that Josie needs physical touch to be happy. So, Josie takes a step back when Hope claims she needs "me time", and Hope lets Josie hold her hand and hug her whenever the brunette feels like it. 

They make progress everyday. Sometimes, Hope doesn't even notice that they're holding hands. Spending evenings in each other's room becomes an everyday thing. 

But now Hope really needs to study. Her test is tomorrow and this grade counts for a lot.

"Josie, stop it." Hope asks in a whine.

The brunette looks back to her books with a blush. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you distracted?" Hope asks in a sigh.

"I was just… you know, thinking."

"About…"

"It's been a week since you shifted, do you feel it?"

Ḩope's grip on her books tightens. "I do, now can we please just study. I don't need to be reminded of how long I've gone without shifting."

Josie gives the tribrid a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry, it's just… I can feel how tense you are. Maybe you should go out in the woods and run for a couple of hours? It would help you for your test."

Hope shakes her head. "I'm not putting you through this again."

Josie rolls her eyes. "You can't go your whole life without shifting again Hope."

Hope runs her hand in her hair before gathering her books.

"Hope! What are you doing?"

"I need to study, and I obviously can't do it here, so I'm going to my room."

"You're not. You're just avoiding our conversation." Josie stands up and walks closer to Hope, taking the tribrid's hands in hers. "Listen to me, okay? We're both gonna go in the woods. You'll shift-" Hope starts to shake her head no, but Josie keeps talking. "and I'll wait for you."

"Josie, no." Hope says firmly. 

"I'll tell my dad."

Hope is surprised by Josie's threat. Of course she knows about Alaric's rule for her shifting. She needs to shift at least once a week to get her edge off, and she needs permission before going out. She's surprised that Josie is aware of that rule though.

"I asked some things about you to my dad. I asked about your shifting habits. He told me you needed to shift at least once a week, and that it was actually a rule between the two of you." Josie says with a little knowing smile.

"Why are you doing this? It's only gonna hurt you."

"Because I know it's hurting you to not shift. I can feel the tension around you. I don't want you to fail this test because you haven't shifted in more than a week. Again."

Okay. So Hope knows Josie is right. She craves to let her wolf out. It takes everything within her to actually keep herself from running out of Josie's room and straight to the woods. But everytime she thinks about shifting, she hears Josie's cries and she sees her curled in a ball on the ground, and it just makes her stomach churn.

"Okay, I'll shift tonight but under two conditions." Josie nods. "First, you don't come out with me. Second, you don't stay alone during the whole process. Go see your sister, have her hold you. I can't think of you crying alone in this room because I'm putting you through pain."

"Why? I want to be with you." Josie pleads. 

"Because I can't be with you as I change and that's when you'd need me to be with you!"

Hope's outburst takes them both by surprise. Hope closes her eyes and takes several deep breaths to calm herself down. Then, she opens them again and gets closer to Josie. Gently, she takes Josie in her arms. The brunette almost immediately returns the embrace, her arms going around Hope's waist.

"I need you to be safe." Hope says in Josie's ear. "I need to know someone's holding when I can't."

Josie sighs in defeat. "Okay. I'll go spend the night with Lizzie."

"Good." 

The Mikaelson girl pulls away, just enough to be able to see Josie's face. The brunette smiles at Hope, before nestling her face in Hope's neck. The tribrid allows this closeness for a long while. She holds Josie close until the brunette makes a move to pull away. The thing is, both of them are waiting for the other to move, so neither does. 

"You should probably go." Josie says, her face still buried in Hope's neck. 

"I should."

Together, they pull away and exchange shy smiles. This new closeness is a welcome change in their relationship, but it's still so new. Feeling shy around each other and blushing was now a common thing. 

"You should gather some things, I'll walk you to Lizzie's room." Hope says.

Josie rolls her eyes. "You don't trust me?"

"I do!" Hope is quick to defend herself.

Josie chuckles. "I was joking Hope. Jeez, you're on your guards."

"I-I just don't want you to think I don't trust you, or that I don't care."

Josie reaches for Hope's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze before moving around her room to gather some things.

"I know you care now. It's good to know you trust me though."

"I would have never showed you my wolf form if I didn't trust you. You're one of the only person that saw me in that form."

"Really?" Josie asks, curiousity filling her voice. 

"Yes, really."

Josie turns to look at Hope over her shoulder and smiles, before going back to packing.

"Okay! I'm done, let's go."

Hope feels little butterflies in her stomach when Josie grabs her hand on their way out of the room. They walk hand in hand through the halls of the Salvatore School, under the curious eyes of their peers. Hope heard all the rumours surrounding them. Most of the school think they're dating. Josie says the tribrid shouldn't listen to the rumours, but Hope finds it very difficult because those rumours put her brain in overdrive. 

Before Hope has time to fall once again in the questions such as : 'do I wanna date my soulmate? ' Josie and her arrive to Lizzie's room. The brunette knocks three times on the door, and then they're left waiting. It actually takes around two minutes for Lizzie to open the door. When she does, her hair are a mess and it's pretty clear her clothes were quickly put on. Hope can see Rafael putting his shirt back on behind Lizzie.

"Jo? Hope? What are you both doing here?" Lizzie asks.

"Hope needs to shift, so I was hoping I could crash here for the night." Josie says, trying not to say too much in front of Rafael.

"Does it have to be tonight? We were in the middle of something…"

Hope's grip on Josie's hand tightens. "Forget it." 

Before anyone has the time to react, Hope drags Josie away from Lizzie's room.

"Wait!" Lizzie shouts.

But Hope doesn't. She hates that Lizzie can't give Josie some attention when she needs it, when she asks for it. The tribrid feels so angry, and deep down she knows it's because she hasn't shifted in a long time. 

"Hope, what are you doing?"

"You wanted to come outside with me, well you're coming outside with me." Hope rushes out.

Josie doesn't say anything, but she does follow Hope more willingly than an instant before. When they get to the Old Mill, Josie tugs on the tribrid's hand to make her stop.

"I'm gonna go inside to grab a blanket. Wait for me, okay?"

Hope nods, and watches as Josie disappears in the abandoned house. As the brunette looks for a blanket, anxiety starts to creep into Hope. Is this a good idea?

"I'm ready now!"

Josie comes out of the Old Mill house all wrapped up in a thick blanket, ready to face the cold air of the night. Hope can't stop herself from thinking that the brunette is the cutest human being on earth. They move to the back of the Old Mill, at the same place as the last time. 

"Stay here, I'll turn behind that tree over there." Hope says, pointing to a tree a little farther. "I'll come back as soon as I'm done. I'll cuddle you until you feel okay again."

"You should just go run when you're done, I'll deal with the change."

"Please Josie, don't fight me on this too. I need to make sure you're okay before I go to run."

"Okay." Josie says with a sheepish smile.

Hope walks away, but not without giving Josie a final smile. The tribrid makes sure to make the change as quick as possible. Her pain is soon forgotten when the change is done, but she knows Josie is still in pain. Hope runs back to Josie and finds her in the same position as last time. Hope lets out a painful whine. She moves closer to Josie and curls up next to the brunette. The Saltzman girl is quick to welcome the cuddles. They stay in this position until Josie's tears stop. Until Hope is sure that Josie feels no pain. 

"You can go now. I'm okay." Josie says with a tired smile. Hope hesitates, but then Josie gently pushes her away. "Go, run and come back to me."

Hope walks away, not without looking back three or maybe even four times. As she runs into the forest, Josie's words keep replaying in her head.

_Come back to me._

It keeps coming back in her head, like an echo that never stops. Hope runs for about an hour, and then she runs back straight to Josie. It might be the shortest run she ever took. When she comes back to the Old Mill, Josie is leaning against a tree and looking at the sky. Hope barks to get her attention.

Josie smiles. "Already back? It's been an hour! You should still be running."

Hope leans her head on the side, her eyes never leaving Josie.

"You ran for more than four hours last time." Josie says as she gets on her feet, slowly walking closer to Hope. "You already changed, enjoy your time as a wolf."

Hope gets closer to Josie and nudges the brunette's hand with her snout. Josie frowns, so Hope does it again.

"You want me to follow you, is that what you're trying to tell me?"

Hope does her best version of a smile and barks. When she's sure Josie is following her, Hope quickly walks back to her favorite spot, the flower field. When they get there, Hope quickly turns to see Josie's reaction. The brunette's eyes are wide, and full of awe.

"Hope! This is so beautiful."

Hope barks one more time, and then she takes off running. She runs for another hour under the eyes of Josie. The brunette sits down and simply watches as her soulmate runs around. When Hope walks back to her, they walk together to the Old Mill again. Hope shifts back to human form, and comes back to hug a crying Josie as quickly as she can. Hope holds the younger girl close, and carries her back to school. This time, Josie doesn't surrender herself to sleep during the walk back. She's fully awake the whole way. 

"I want us to do this again." Josie says quietly.

Hope looks down at Josie. "Okay."

"Really? You're not gonna fight me on this?"

"At least I know someone is taking care of you this way."

Josie rests her head on Hope's shoulder as they make their way into the school. She looks at Hope with so much fondness, that it makes Hope blush. The tribrid looks down at the girl in her arms.

"The flower field, it makes me think of you."

Josie frowns and lifts her head. "How so?"

"The smell. And… I don't know. It makes me feel good, just like you."

"Hope…" Josie pauses, hesitating before speaking her next words. "Do you realize how… romantic you sound when you say things like that?"

Hope freezes, she literally stops walking. Josie thinks for a moment that she said the wrond thing, the thing that would push Hope away again. But then, Hope tightens her jaw and starts to walk again. 

"I'm sorry.." Hope says, before swallowing the lump in her throat. "I didn't mean to cross any line, or anything."

Josie sighs and leans her head on Hope's shoulder again. "It's okay."

Soon enough, they get to Josie's room and Hope gently places the brunette on her bed. 

"Could you stay for the night?" Josie asks, hope filling her eyes.

Hope thinks for a moment. It would be the first time they'd share a bed since Josie's birthday. The tribrid wonders for a while if it's a good idea. With her ever growing feelings, and Josie looking at her like that. It's definitely a bad idea.

"Yeah, I'll stay."

Hope slips under the covers of Josie's bed, still in her day clothes, but neither of them think about that. The change was hard on them both tonight. Josie sighs and subtly tries to get closer to Hope. When the Mikaelson girl realizes what the witch is trying to do, a slow smile plays on her lips. Hope draps her arm around Josie's waist and pulls her close. When Josie buries her head in Hope's neck, the auburn haired girl feels the smile on the brunette's lips. 

"Good night Josie." Hope softly says.

Josie hums in Hope's neck. She's almost already asleep.

* * *

Hope is almost out of the door the next morning when there's a loud knock on Josie's door. The girls exchange a weird look.

"Were you waiting for someone?" Hope asks with a frown.

"No."

Josie walks to her door and opens it. Lizzie and Alaric are standing on the other side of the door. The blonde girl quickly pulls her twin in an excited embrace.

"You won't believe this! Tell her dad!" Lizzie says.

Alaric chuckles. "Your mother and I agreed to send the two of you to Europe. You're gonna spend a week travelling with her."

"A whole week?" 

All eyes fall on Hope. That's when the tribrid realizes how panicked she sounded, and how paniched she feels. 

"Is it gonna affect us? Are we gonna hurt because we're apart?" Hope adds.

Josie gets closer to Hope, feeling how distressed her soulmate is. She gently takes one of Hope's hand in hers. 

Alaric sighs. "I have no idea. The only way for us to know is to put distance between the two of you."

The man's answer is frustrating. She needs answers. She needs to know that Josie won't hurt while she's gone. She needs to know what's gonna happen!

"I'm going to my room."

"Hope-"

"Me time." Hope says.

Then the auburn haired girl is out of the room. What she doesn't know though, is that Josie is closely following her. The brunette grabs Hope's wrist, and forces her to stop.

"You can't ask for 'me time' when you want to avoid talking!"

"Oh yeah? Why not?" Hope says with snark.

"Because that's not how our relationship works. I can't let it be how our relationship works."

Hope let's Josie's words sink in. She knows the younger girl is right, but running away would be so much easier. But Josie is not gonna let her do that anymore.

"I-I'm scared." Hope lets the words slip. 

"And it's okay to be scared. Perfectly understandable actually. I'm scared too." Josie slowly pulls Hope in a hug. "But I strongly believe we'll be okay."

"Why?"

"Because, we're soulmates and that makes us strong. Whatever happens, we'll get through it together, okay?" Josie waits for Hope to nod before talking again. "If you feel pain while I'm away, tell my dad. I'll do the same. Is that a deal?"

Josie's smell filling her nose acts as a very calming thing.

"I guess, yeah."

  
  



	10. Consequences of distance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!
> 
> Things are getting serious in this one! Be prepared.
> 
> Oh, and enjoy.

Hope didn't expect to feel a shift in their bond as soon as Alaric's car disappears from the road that leads to the school. But when she no longer sees the car, Hope feels empty. It's just now that the tribrid realizes how much space Josie took in her life. 

Hope walks through the halls, alone, with no hand to hold. She gets to her own room, and the silence that fills it when she closes the door is deafening. Hope leans against the door and closes her eyes, doing her best to steady herself. Josie's been gone for a few minutes, she shouldn't miss her that much already.

The more time passes, the worst Hope feels. 

The next day, Hope realizes that it doesn't hurt. It does way worse than hurting actually. 

Hope walks in Alaric's office, panic written all over her face. 

"I can't feel Josie." 

"What did you-"

Hope quickly repeats herself. "I can't feel Josie! I can't feel her anymore Dr. Saltzman." 

Alaric quickly stands up when he sees his student that is usually emotionally guarded, on the verge of crying. He walks closer to Hope, but the Mikaelson girl takes a step back and turns her back to him.

"D-do you think… that the bond could be severed by space?" Hope asks, her voice breaking.

Alaric walks closer again, and places what he hopes is a comforting hand on Hope's shoulder.

"I don't know Hope. Does it hurt?" 

The tribrid shakes her head. "No. I told you, I feel nothing. Empty."

"Empty?" He says, curious.

Hope sighs loudly and turns around. "It's like there's a Josie sized hole in my life. I knew I'd feel her absence, but I thought I would at least feel her."

"I see." The man caress his beard, deep in thoughts.

They're both startled when Alaric's phone starts to ring. The man quickly excuses himself and takes the call.

"Caroline! Hi, how are-" He abruptly stops talking. "I see." He hums. "Yeah, we didn't know what would happen." He pauses and listens. "She's here with me." 

Suddenly Hope decides to listen more closely since they're talking about her. 

"Yes, she feels like that too." There's a small pause. "Of course, give me a second." Alaric hands the phone to Hope. "Josie would like to speak to you."

The tribrid's eyes widen. "Really?"

He smiles. "Yes."

Hope hesitantly takes the phone. "Hi?"

Josie sniffles. "Hi…"

Hope immediately knows Josie's been crying. "Josie, what's wrong?"

"I-I can't f-feel you. Since we've been in that plane… Hope, do you think we're not soulmates anymore?"

"I-I…" Hope swallows the lump in her throat. "Yes, we still are. Your name is still tattooed on my skin. Is my name still on yours?"

"Y-yeah."

"Then it must mean we're still soulmates. That kind of thing doesn't just disappear, right?"

"Right. Why can't I feel you then?"

"I can't feel you either. It must be because of the distance separating us. Do you remember the movie night? The way I could feel even your smallest forms of pain? The connection between us gets strong when we're physically close, and nonexistent when we're too far away from each other."

For a long moment nobody speaks. Hope doesn't know what she could add. She refrains herself from begging Josie to just hop in the next plane and come back home. For now, she needs to be in control and be a comforting presence in Josie's life. 

"Do you even miss me?" Josie ends up asking. "Or are you realizing how easier your life would be without the soul marks?"

"No!" Hope quickly blurts out. "I miss you. I swear I do. Josie, I-" Hope takes a deep breath. "I realized how empty I feel without you. You filled a place that was left empty for so long, and now that you're gone… I feel this overwhelming emptiness again. I don't think I could deal with this for long."

"Really?" Josie's voice is small.

Hope lets a small smile stretch her lips. "Really. Like you told me the other night… Enjoy your time, and then come back to me."

"Okay."

"Have a good day Josie." Hope says, the smile evident in her voice.

"Have a good day too Hope." Josie replies, a new lightness in hers.

Hope hands Alaric the phone. "I'm going for a run."

Without another look at the man, Hope walks out of the headmaster's office. She can't believe she actually confessed all of this to Josie. Her level of freak out is the highest it's ever been. 

* * *

Two days later, and Hope spent most of her time as a wolf. It's just easier this way. Her wolf form helps the emptiness to go unnoticed. So Hope runs around the forest for hours, and comes back to school to sleep. As soon as she gets in her very empty room, the empty feeling catches up to her.

So Hope takes long and hot showers. She spends her little time as a human in her own room and avoids every little interaction with Josie's father. She would rather not have a repeat of her conversation with Josie. Admitting she missed Josie was really hard the first time, she couldn't see herself do it again. 

It's been four days that Josie's gone when Hope doesn't get to avoid Alaric anymore. 

The tribrid's been feeling restless all night. It felt as if she was feeling too much, like she needed to clear her heart and mind. She's just about to get out of her room to head to the woods and take it out as a wolf, when there's a loud knock on her door. Hope doesn't even have to open the door to know her mentor stands on the other side. 

The tribrid opens the door with a sigh. "Good morning Dr. Saltzman."

The man is smiling. "Morning Hope! Were you heading out?"

"I was, so if you don't mind…"

Hope manages to get out of her room, but Josie's father quickly follows her. 

"Follow me to my office first, please."

"Why?" She says, getting irritated.

"I have something to show you."

Hope sighs, but she follows the man to his office. He's still her headmaster after all. When he opens the door of his office, Hope's heart skips a beat. 

There, in the middle of the room stands none other than Josie Saltzman, her very own soulmate. The thing is, Josie wasn't supposed to be home until at least three more days, maybe even four. Caroline and Lizzie are there too, standing on the side of the room, but Hope barely notices them since her eyes are glued to Josie.

The brunette's smile is even more bright than in Hope's most vivid memory. Her smell is even better than the one from the flower fiel Hope's been running in for the past two days. 

Suddenly it makes sense. Why she's been feeling too much. It's because Josie got back, and her emotions came crashing back to Hope.

Not caring about the eyes following her every move, Hope walks quickly to her soulmate and pulls her in a tight hug. The feeling of emptiness is gone, and Hope couldn't be more relieved, more happy.

"You're back." The emotions makes it hard for Hope to talk, but she still manages to get that out.

"I am." Josie replies, her embrace as tight as Hope's. "I begged my parents to come back earlier."

All Hope can do to answer is to nod. She nods and she squeezes Josie tighter. The tribrid feels the tears on her own cheeks, but she can't do anything to stop them. She has a hard time believing what's happening though.

A couple of months ago, if someone would have told her she'd be crying because she missed Josie Saltzman, Hope would have laughed. Even though she knew they were soulmates, Hope didn't feel the bond as strongly back then. Everything is more intense since Josie got her own mark. It's as though their bond is now complete. 

"Hope… You're crushing me."

The tribrid immediately lets go of Josie. For a second Hope is about to apologize, but then she sees the smile on Josie's face. Instead of giving her an apology, Hope decides to smile sheepishly. They look at each other for a long time, neither knowing what to say next.

"It's good to see you again Hope." Caroline says suddenly.

The tribrid turns to face the blonde woman. Something about Caroline Forbes always intimidated Hope. 

"Likewise Mrs. Forbes." Hope replies with a small smile.

"I've heard a lot of things concerning you in the past few weeks." 

"Mom!" Josie says in a whine. "Can this wait until tomorrow? I'd like to spend time with Hope. Alone time." Josie quickly corrects herself when she gets weird look from her family. "To talk! And maybe cuddle, if Hope's up for it."

"Yeah… yeah, I'd like that too." Hope says nodding her head a couple times. 

Caroline and Alaric exchange a look.

"I guess we can accept that." Josie's mother says with a soft smile.

As soon as the words are out of Caroline's mouth, Hope's smile gets bigger and she takes Josie's hand in her's, leading her out of the room. Josie follows with a giggle, under the curious eyes of her parents and sister. 

They quickly get to Hope's room, and when the door closes behind them, they're left alone for the first time in four days. 

They're alone after a very emotional confession that was made over the phone. 

They're alone after longing for each other for four very long days. 

"I want to see it." Josie says as she stands at a good distance from Hope.

Josie's words lack explaining, but Hope knows exactly what Josie wants to see. 

"Only if I can see yours." Hope finds herself saying.

They look each other in the eyes for a long moment, neither wanting to be the one to break the eye contact. Hope takes a step closer, and Josie does the same. They're close enough to touch now. Without breaking eye contact, Josie lifts a hand until her fingers are brushing the collar of Hope's shirt. Hope reaches out and takes the hem of Josie's shirt in her hand. At the exact same time, they break eye contact and push each other's shirt out of the way. 

The view of Hope's soul mark fills Josie's heart with happiness, and soon her eyes go back to Hope's face. As for Hope, as soon as her eyes fall on Josie's mark, they turn gold. This time, it's not just a flicker, they go full gold and don't turn blue again. Josie's hand goes from Hope's collarbone to her neck, gently forcing the tribrid to look at her.

"Hope…" Josie gently says. "We're okay. I'm not leaving anymore."

Hope blinks a couple of times quickly. When she finally opens them, they're blue again. She looks confused.

"I-I…"

"It's okay." Josie comforts her soulmate. "Let's get on the bed together, okay?"

Hope let's Josie guide her to the bed, and together they lay down. The tribrid lets the brunette spoon her, and suddenly she feels a little better. A little less disoriented. 

"What happened?" Josie asks softly.

"I have no idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope all of you are staying home right now. 
> 
> Be safe, okay? ❤


	11. Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy this one ;)

"Have you been feeling out of control?" Josie softly asks in Hope's ear.

Josie's the first one to talk in more than 10 minutes of silence. After Hope admitted she had no idea what was happening when her eyes turned gold, Josie tightened her hold on the tribrid. They settled in silence, letting themselves just feel each other's presence for a while.

"No… Not really. When I realized we both couldn't feel each other, I started to spend a lot of time as a wolf. It was easier to forget the void in my chest."

Josie stops her gentle strokes on Hope's arm for a second or two. She knows all too well what Hope means. She felt that emptiness too while she was away. As soon as the brunette got on her plane, she regretted leaving.

"I felt it too." Josie whispers. "Why do you think your eyes turned gold for so long?"

Hope suddenly feels defensive. "I told you already. I have no idea."

The little kiss Josie places on her shoulder makes Hope's heart stop in her chest.

"No need to get defensive. I was only asking."

Josie's soft voice immediately makes Hope feel bad about snapping at her. Hope slowly turns around in Josie's arms, and when she's face to face with the brunette, her words get stuck in her throat. She loves Josie's face so much, why did she never noticed that before? Josie moves her arm from around Hope's waist, and slowly moves her hand up to Hope's face. 

"Did I scare you?" Hope finally asks.

"No." Josie says, not even hesitating.

"You're too trusting." Hope replies, but she gives Josie a small smile. "How was Europe?"

"Good. Amazing views, and so many things to do. But I didn't enjoy it as much as I would've a couple of months ago. There was something else on my mind."

Hope knows Josie is talking about her, but she decides to play the younger girl's game.

"Oh yeah, what was it?"

"It's not something, but rather someone."

"Then, who is it?"

Hope can't help but notice how dilated Josie's eyes are. They're so close now. Josie's eyes fall on Hope's lips for a couple of seconds, before slowly going back to Hope's eyes.

"Do I really need to say it out loud?" Josie whispers.

"I'd like to hear it."

"You, Hope Mikaelson, never left my mind as I wandered around Europe with my mother and sister." Josie quickly lets out. She takes a deep breath before speaking again. "Happy?"

Hope nods. "You never left my mind either."

Their eyes stay glued on each other. Hope wishes she'd be brave enough to do something right now. Maybe something like kiss Josie, just to show her how much she missed her. Maybe even admit that being friends with the brunette was never really an option, and she knows it now. But nothing happens, Hope's body stays frozen. Josie on the other hand, does move. The Saltzman girl take her hand away from Hope's face and stands up from the bed. 

Hope helplessly watches as her soulmate pulls away. There is so much emotions in the air, that Hope isn't even sure about which one are hers. 

The tribrid sits up in bed and watches as the brunette stands in the middle of her room, arms crossed. 

"Is something wrong?" Hope asks.

"I-uh, no. I just needed some space, because you were being very romantic again, and well, my heart has its limit."

"Oh…" Hope looks down for a moment, and then back up at Josie. "You're the one that started it though."

Josie gives a mock-glare to Hope, before sitting on the edge of the bed. The tribrid slowly gets closer, until she's sitting next to Josie. Hope smiles and nudges the brunette's shoulder with her own. 

"I'm really happy you got back earlier." Hope softly says.

Josie turns her head to look at Hope. The auburn haired girl is happy to see Josie's beautiful smile back on her face.

"I'm happy to be back too. Lizzie is kinda pissed though. She was enjoying our trip."

Hope rolls her eyes. "Who cares…"

Josie frowns. "I do. She's my twin Hope."

"I know that. But Josie… Lizzie is so selfish. She barely pays attention to you."

Josie suddenly avoids Hope's eyes. "Please stop."

"I'm sorry." Hope says with a sigh. 

"Can we just… focus on us?" Josie asks, and Hope can actually hear the nervousness in her voice.

"Sure."

The tribrid reaches out and takes Josie's hand in her own, getting a beautiful smile as a reward.

"I wasn't scared when your eyes turned gold, but I think we should talk about it with my parents. Just in case, you know?"

Hope looks down again. "I guess yeah."

"Okay, let's go."

"Now?" Hope says quickly. "I thought we were having alone time today."

"This is important Hope. We can get alone time later." Josie says, her smile still there.

Hope groans. "Fine."

* * *

"Gold? Your wolf took over?" Alaric asks with a worried frown.

"No!" Hope quickly protests, before realizing that she actually lost it for a second or two. "Maybe, I don't know."

Hope is tense under the eyes of Josie's parents. She feels like they're judging her. Like they're trying to figure out if she's good enough fo their daughter. The tribrid feels defensive, like she has to prove herself. 

Hope looks away from the two adults in the room, and quickly looks for her soulmate. Josie is still standing by her side, and when their eyes meet, the brunette makes a move to get a little closer. Some tension leaves Hope's body when Josie's hand slips into her own.

"It was as if she wasn't there." Josie tries to explain. "Her eyes didn't leave my soul mark until I forced her to look at me."

"Oh, and why was she looking at your soul mark? You know the one that is situated on your hip!" Caroline says full mother mode on.

Josie and Hope look at each other, a matching blush on their cheeks. 

"We just… We needed to make sure they were both still there." Josie answers.

"So, no funny business?" Caroline says with a raised eyebrow.

"Mom! I already told you, it's not like that between us."

"Right." Caroline eyes them suspiciously.

"Can we focus on the fact that my wolf might take over sometimes when I'm with Josie?" Hope says. "I'm scared, okay? I don't wanna hurt her."

Every eyes fall on Hope again. It was a rare thing to hear the Mikaelson tribrid admit she was scared of something.

"I'll call your aunt Freya, maybe her and Keelin could help." Alaric says, already reaching for the phone. "You can both sit down."

Hope is the first to sit down in a chair in front of the man's desk, quickly followed by Josie. The Saltzman girl is still holding Hope's hand, and for that the tribrid is grateful. 

"Hello Freya, it's Alaric Saltzman." The man says. "I'm calling you because there is an issue with Hope, and we'd need your help." A pause. "Oh, okay." 

Then he hangs up.

"What? That's all?" Hope says, a little panicked. "Was she busy or something?"

"No, she's gonna do astral projection. She should be her-"

Just as he says that, Freya appears in the center of the room. Seeing her aunt there makes Hope suddenly remember just how much she misses her family.

"Aunt Freya…"

"Oh, Hope! I didn't know you'd be here. It's so good to see you honey."

"It's good to see you too."

Freya's eyes fall on Josie and Hope's intertwined fingers.

"What is that?" She asks with a teasing smile. Alaric clears his throat before anyone can answer. "Oh right, the issue."

"Right." Alaric sighs. "Hope, did you inform your family about your… situation?"

The Mikaelson girl sighs and looks down. "No, I did my best to hide it from them actually."

Immediately, Hope feels a very familiar pain in her chest. She quickly looks up and meets Josie's eyes. Disappointment is written all over Josie's face.

"Josie-"

"Later." The brunette says.

Hope has no time to protests.

"Hope, do you want to tell your aunt, or should I?" Alaric asks again.

Hope takes a deep breath. "Josie's my soulmate."

Freya's eyes grow wide. "Show me the soul marks."

"You knew it was possible?"

Freya rolls her eyes. "I've been alive for a long time Hope. Soulmates are rare, but they happen every now and then."

Hope gives a little look to Josie before standing up. She's relieved when Josie silently follows her. Hope doesn't hesitate to just push her shirt to the side to show her tattooed skin to Freya. Josie, on the other hand, seems a little nervous, but she still does. It takes everything within Hope to not look at Josie's mark. 

"They look legit." Freya says.

"Believe me, they are." Hope says.

"Okay, what's the issue?"

This time Hope doesn't answer. She looks everywhere but at her aunt, and maybe she avoids looking at Josie too.

"It seems like Hope's wolf is acting up." Alaric speaks up.

"How so?"

"Earlier today, we looked at each other's marks and Hope's eyes turned gold. It looked like she wasn't there anymore. She only stopped staring, when I forced her to look away. That's when her eyes got blue again too." Josie explains

Freya is frowning now. "So her wolf took over for a couple of seconds while she was fully human?"

"Yeah."

"That's alarming." Freya admits. "Let me look it up, and in the mean time, limit your time together."

"What?" Hope says panic filling her once again "Josie just got back!"

"Hope, sweetie, you want her to be safe, right?"

"Of course." Hope says in a sigh.

"Then take some time apart."

Hope looks at her soulmate, only to see sadness written all over her face.

"I'll stay away, but please make it quick." Hope says.

"I will. Bye everyone."

Just like that Freya disappears. It doesn't even take a second for Hope to be tackled in a hug. She almost loses her balance, but the tribrid manages to stay on her feet. She knows Josie is crying, and Hope can't help but wanting to cry a little too. 

"Josie, please…" Hope pleads.

"I know you won't hurt me." Josie says. "Please Hope, please…"

"We have to. This way we're gonna be sure no one will get hurt." 

"You're just trying to push me away again!" Josie says suddenly breaking the hug.

Hope is taken aback by Josie's words. "What? No, I'm not! You heard her, we have to take our distances just in case."

All the emotions mixed together are making Hope so confused. She's in pain, she's sad, she's mad… Before Hope has the chance to do anything, Josie storms out of the room. 

"What the hell just happened?" Hope asks.

"Language." Alaric says.

"I think you just broke her heart." Caroline says.

Hope's eyes go to the blonde woman. "I'm only trying to protect her."

"I know." Caroline sighs. "I think Josie's emotions got the best of her. I guess she could also feel yours, which only confused her more. Give her some time, she'll come around."

Hope nods, and without another word, she leaves the office. 

Josie's back and they had a little bit of time together, only to be ripped apart again. This time though, Hope can feel her soulmate. 

Not feeling Josie at all had been the worst thing to happen to the tribrid since her parents death. 

But now, Hope can feel her and she knows Josie is in pain, and there's nothing she can do. The tribrid can't decide what's worst.

Not feeling anything at all, or knowing Josie's in pain and being unable to help?

* * *

It's the middle of the night when Hope is startled awake by a knock on her door. The tribrid quickly gets up and walks to the door. Her eyes widen, and her heart skips a beat when she sees Josie on the other side. As she sees Josie's crying face, Hope's sleepy state leaves and the pain catches up to her. 

"Josie, what's happening?"

"I-I had a n-nightmare." Josie gives as an explanation. "Can I please come in?"

Deep down Hope knows she should say no, but she doesn't have the strenght to do that. So instead, Hope reaches out for Josie's forearm and gently pulls her inside. 

"Get in bed, I'll be back with you in a second." 

Josie does as she's told and Hope walks to the bathroom. She wets a cloth with warm water and grabs a box of tissue before going back inside her room. She hands the box to Josie, and the brunette takes it with a grateful smile. When Josie's done, Hope gently reaches out and wipes the Saltzman girl's cheeks with the wet cloth. 

Josie watches her silently, mouth slightly open and her eyes wide. When Hope notices the look in Josie's eyes, it's too late.

The brunette girl leans forward and presses her lips to Hope's. Without even thinking about it, the auburn haired girl closes her eyes and sighs in the kiss. The kiss is firm, Josie's full lips pressed against Hope's. Their lips don't move though, so the kiss stays chaste. Hope isn't thinking straight, Josie's lips are the only thing she can even manage to think about. After a couple of seconds, what she's doing catches up to Josie.

The young witch pulls away, her eyes wide. "I'm so sorry." 

Hope tries to reach for Josie, but the brunette pulls away. Soon enough, Josie stands up and heads for the door. Hope is quicker than her though, and blocks the door.

"Don't run." Hope pleads.

Hope moves closer to Josie, but the brunette flinches when the tribrid tries to touch her.

"Josie, please. What's wrong?"

"I dreamt that I didn't exist." Josie rushes out.

"What do you mean?"

"I was gone Hope!" Josie explodes. "I was just… gone. And you…"

"What? Me, what?"

"You were with Lizzie. Her name replacing mine on your skin."

Hope doesn't even hesitate to push her pyjama shirt away from her collarbone, exposing the tattooed skin. Sure enough, Josie's name was still written there. The sight caused Josie's eyes to fill with fresh new tears.

"I'm so sorry about the kiss Hope."

Hope's face softens, even though she doesn't smile. Hope slowly moves closer to her soulmate, making sure Josie's okay with it. The brunette doesn't flinch, or pull away this time, so Hope pulls her in a hug.

"You are my only soulmate Josie. I don't know what this dream was about, but it wasn't true."

They stay like that for a while, hugging in the middle of Hope's bedroom. Hope knows they shouldn't even be together right now, but there was absolutely no way she'd let anyone take away Josie in this moment. They belonged together, and nobody would get between them. Hope is gonna make sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So!
> 
> A lot happened in this one! 
> 
> What are your thoughts?


	12. A wolf's claim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got nothing to say.
> 
> EXCEPT : enjoy.

Josie and Hope are sitting in Alaric and Caroline's office, both looking down as Josie's parents scold them.

"You couldn't stay away from each other for a night!" Caroline says.

"You both knew it was for your own good." Alaric adds. "We don't know what's up with Hope's wolf. What if it hurts you Josie? And you Hope, how would you feel about hurting Josie?"

"I would never hurt Josie!" Hope says, suddenly angry. 

Josie reaches out and holds Hope's hand. The tribrid's attention stays on the two adults, daring them to imply again that she'd hurt their daughter.

"I had a nightmare." Josie says, her voice small. "I-I just… needed to be with Hope. Just to be sure…"

Caroline's face softens. "Oh sweetie, of what did you need to be sure?"

Josie's cheeks turn a dark shade of pink. "That she was still… my soulmate. That I was still hers."

Caroline and Alaric exchange a look, both of them clearly worried.

"What happened in your dream Josie?" Alaric softly asks.

Josie shakes her head. "Nothing much."

"Josie…"

"It's fine!" Josie insists.

Caroline sighs. "Okay. You two, stay away from each other, at least until Freya comes back with answers. Understood?" Silence, neither of them answers. "I said, understood?"

"Yes mom…" 

"Yes, Mrs. Forbes."

"Good. Now go to class."

Just like that, the two girls separate again. But, not without looking back at each other a couple of times. Hope knows it hurts Josie to walk away, she knows because she can feel it. Though, she wonders if her own pain is laced with Josie's at this moment. Walking away from the Saltzman girl is harder now than it's ever been before. 

The day passes slowly, and Hope takes every chance she gets to get even a glimpse of her soulmate. Sometimes they pass each other in the halls, other times they're sitting in the same room for a witch class. Hope decides to actually have dinner in the cafeteria, because seeing Josie from far away is better than not seeing Josie at all. 

But the thing is Josie doesn't show up at dinner. MG, Kaleb and Lizzie are all sitting a table, chatting, but Josie's not there. Hope looks around, but there's no signs of her favorite brunette. Quickly, the Mikaelson girl gets up and makes her way to her soulmate's twin, forgetting all about her dinner.

"Lizzie, where's Josie?" Hope asks, worry seeping in her voice.

Lizzie turns around and gives Hope an annoyed look.

"She said something about helping Raf with homework." Lizzie says, but then she frowns. "She should be here by now though…"

Hope quickly gets worried. "Where were they supposed to be?"

"The library I guess…" Lizzie replies, and then she stands up. "I'll go look for her."

"Yeah, me too." Hope says with a nod.

They start to walk out of the room, and then Lizzie gives Hope a weird look.

"You're not supposed to spend time together."

"I don't care!" Hope snaps.

"Calm down Mikaelson! They probably only lost track of time, Josie loves studying…"

"I'll calm down when I know Josie's fine!"

"Can't you feel her? You'd know if she was hurt."

Hope balls her fists. "I can feel her. There's nothing strange for now."

"Then relax."

As soon as they walk through the doors of the library, their eyes grow wide. Jed and Rafael are arguing in the middle of the library, and Josie quickly stands up to push them apart. Hope immediately feels Josie's anxiousness. The tribrid is about to make her way to them, and stop whatever's happening when the worst happens. Jed says the wrong thing, making Rafael so angry that he pushes Josie away with enough force to send the brunette flying straight into the wall. Hope watches frozen as her soulmate hits the wall and falls to the ground, unconscious. The tribrid feels the pain too, but it only gets her angry. 

The Mikaelson girl says a spell and all at once, both werewolves are pinned to the wall, both choking on invisible hands. Hope doesn't control her actions anymore. She tightens her hold on them, their faces slowly turning blue from the lack of oxygen. 

Lizzie grabs Hope's arm, to try and get her attention. That's when she realizes the color of Hope's eyes, they're shining in an intense gold. 

"Hope! Stop it!" Lizzie screams. "You're gonna kill them, please Hope stop!" 

Lizzie's scream does nothing to loosen Hope's hold.

"Think about Josie." Lizzie suddenly says, and Hope's eyes flicker to her. "She wouldn't want this. Look at her, she needs you right now!"

Hope blinks a couple of times, her eyes slowly turning blue again. As soon as the gold is gone, Hope lets the two boys fall. She looks around, only now understanding what happened. She looks at Jed and Rafael, both looking at her with fear filled eyes. Then, she looks at Josie, still unconscious on the floor. 

The tribrid decides to focus her attention on the brunette and quickly jogs to her. She's the only one that matters for now. Gently, Hope takes Josie in her arms as she kneels on the floor. The auburn haired girl carefully pushes some hair out of Josie's face. The brunette hit her head when she was thrown onto the wall, and she has a small cut on her cheek, but other than that she seems okay. 

"Josie… Wake up, Jo." Hope softly begs.

It takes a couple more times before Josie's eyes actually flutter open. 

"Hope?"

"Hey you... " Hope whispers.

"W-what happened?"

"You tried to stop Raf and Jed from fighting and you got thrown into the wall. You hit your head."

"Oh…"

"I'll take you to the infirmary." Hope softly says.

She carries Josie bridal style under the eyes of the two wolves and Lizzie. The brunette doesn't say anything more, she just leans her head on Hope's shoulder.

"Don't fall asleep Jo." Hope says, loud enough to startle Josie a little.

"I wasn't..."

Hope smiles. "Liar."

The tribrid's heart fills with a little bit of joy when a small smile plays on Josie's lips. 

As soon as they get to the infirmary, they're met with Caroline and Alaric. 

"Lizzie called us." Caroline says as an explanation.

"Give her to me." Alaric demands.

Hope tightens her hold on her soulmate. "No."

"Hope, give me my daughter." The man insists.

"I said : no." Hope growls. "You told me to stay away from her, and now she's hurt. I'm never listening to you again."

The tribrid walks into the room, not even sparing a last glance at her headmaster. She sits close to the brunette as the nurse looks her over. The woman gently spreads a cream over the cut on Josie's cheek, and looks to see if she has a concussion. Hope holds Josie's hand the whole time, and she's rewarded with a grateful smile from her soulmate.

"You don't seem to have a concussion Josie, but you shouldn't be left alone for now." The nurse says with a kind smile. "Any of you wants to check on this one?" The woman says to the three others in the room.

"I will." Hope immediately says.

"No, you two need some time apart." Alaric says sternly.

"Absolutely not. You think I'm letting her out of my sight after what happened?"

"You're not the one making the decisions here Hope." 

Hope stands up and glares at the man. "Try to keep me away then."

"Stop!" Josie snaps. "I'm gonna stay with Hope." Alaric opens his mouth. "I don't care what you think dad. I made my choice." The brunette looks at the tribrid. "Can you carry me back to your room? I feel a little weak."

"You didn't even have to ask." Hope says.

With one last glare at Josie's father, Hope turns around and gently picks Josie up. Her attention stays on the brunette the whole way to her room. She sees how Josie is lost in her head. She worries over the hit her soulmate took, over the little cut on her cheek. 

The Mikaelson girl gently lays Josie on her bed, and the brunette immediately slips under the covers. Hope watches her with a fond smile.

"You must be hungry." Hope says.

Josie shrugs. "Not that much. My stomach feels upset." 

"Yeah, I can tell." Hope says with hum. "Still, you didn't have dinner. I have some protein bars, please eat one, okay?"

Josie nods slowly. "Okay."

Hope quickly opens a drawer of her desk and gets a bar for Josie. She sits on the bed, next to the brunette. Josie shyly takes the bar and unwraps it. 

"Hope, I-" Josie starts.

The tribrid quickly cuts her off. "I don't wanna know." Hope lifts a hand and with her thumb she carefully traces Josie's cut. "You got hurt, and I couldn't stop it. I should have been there from the start. None of this should have happened."

"It's not your fault. Werewolves are unpredictable, I shouldn't have tried to stop them."

Josie's words have a weird effect on Hope. Deep down, she knows Josie wasn't thinking about her when she talked about werewolves, but Hope still feels like it includes her. The tribrid thinks about the fact she lost control again, she can't even tell how long she was gone for.

"Josie…" Hope says.

"What's wrong Hope?"

"I lost it again. When you got hurt… I could have killed them. Both of them. Lizzie… she's the only reason why I didn't. S-she reminded me of you."

Josie puts the protein bar on Hope's nightstand and gets closer to the older girl. The brunette takes Hope in her arms and buries her face in her neck.

"You stopped. It's the only thing that matters." Josie says, and leaves a little kiss there.

That's when Hope realizes she's tired of fighting. She's tired of fighting her feelings, of fighting against Josie. The tribrid pulls away a little, but only enough to be able to pull Josie in a passionate kiss. The brunette is taken aback for a couple of seconds before she melts into the kiss. Their lips slowly move together, it's their second kiss, but it's way more meaninful than the first. 

This time, the kiss isn't filled with fear and uncertainty. 

This time, it's filled with love and want.

Hope doesn't let the kiss last for long. Josie hit her head not too long ago, and she's afraid the younger girl would feel dizzy if they kiss for too long. Hope pulls away, but she keeps Josie's face in her hands. 

"I hope you didn't mind." The tribrid says with a little smile.

"Do I look like I mind?" Josie replies with a giggle.

Hope shakes her head with a smile. "Okay. Now eat."

Josie rolls her eyes playfully, but she still reaches for the forgotten protein bar. She takes the first bite and grimaces.

"Ew! Hope, how can you eat this?"

Hope shrugs. "It's not that bad."

"It literally taste like chalk."

"Don't be over dramatic. Eat it, it's good for you."

"I hope I'll get some cuddles for that… Maybe even another kiss?"

Hope shrugs again with a playfull smile this time. "We'll see."

* * *

The next day, both girls are being asked to the headmaster's office. They go together, their hands brushing each other on their way there. They exchange shy smiles too.

Josie and Hope didn't have the conversation they desperately need. Instead, they sank into Hope's bed and cuddled until they both fell asleep. 

And now, they're sitting in front of Josie's parents, under their intense and suspicious eyes. Hope has never wanted to disappear like she does now. The only thing that saves them from a very long and awkward conversation is when Freya appears in the middle of the room startling them all.

"Hello everyone!" The blonde witch says.

"Aunt Freya… you scared us!" Hope says. "You should call before appearing like that."

Freya rolls her eyes. "Fine, I will call next time." She sighs. "Does anyone wants to know what we found?"

"Yes!" They all reply almost at the same time.

"Well, turns out Hope's wolf is getting a little territorial on you Josie." Freya says with a smirk. "Keelin and I read in some archives, that when a werewolf gets a soulmate, the wolf needs to claim that person as theirs too. From what we read, that's supposed to happen after the two of get intimate though… So, did you two-" 

Hope's eyes widen. "No! We didn't."

Hope looks at Josie, and the brunette's cheeks are on fire. Then, she looks to her soulmate's parents and they legit look like they're about to murder her.

"Josie and I, we never crossed that line! I-I mean… We did kiss, but that's all. Just a couple of little kisses. Nothing too deep." Hope is rambling, and she knows that by now her blush must be matching Josie's. 

Freya hums and looks deep in thoughts for a couple of seconds.

"Maybe the fact that you got separated so early in your relationship made Hope's wolf angry. It accelerated the process, and now your wolf wants to claim Josie and make sure you're not separated again."

Hope frowns. "How am I supposed to 'claim' Josie?"

"By biting her on the neck."

It's the answer Hope feared she'd get. Because suddenly it makes sense. The way she's been obsessing over her soulmate's neck every time she got a clear view on it. The possessivness, the need to mark… It happened at Josie's birthday, and again when they were training, and so many times after. Hope tried to push it down, to ignore it, but now she knows it's no use. The need will be there, and get worse, until she actually claim Josie.

The three adults in the room are loudly arguing about that outcome. Alaric is furious Freya would even suggest such a thing and Caroline tends to agree with him, but she's a little less angry than he is. Freya defends her point, knowing full well it's the only thing that can stop Hope's sudden absences.

Josie on the other hand is thinking real hard about what was just said. She's already Hope's soulmate, would it really make a difference if Hope bit her and claimed her? The brunette stands up from her seat, but only to kneel in front of the tribrid. Hope looks totally lost in her own mind. So, Josie gently takes the tribrid's face in her hands.

"Hope… look at me please." Josie whispers with a small smile. 

Hope does, but what surprises Josie is the softness in her eyes. The Mikaelson girl sinks to her knees too, putting them on the same level. Hope's hands mirror Josie's, and when she has the younger girl's face in her hands, Hope leans in. Josie immediately sighs and reciprocate the kiss.

Everyone stops talking, all of them staring at the two girls kissing on their knees.

Their lips slowly move together this time, and Josie's heart is beating so fast that Hope almost hears it. The tribrid tries her best to put as much emotion in this kiss as she can. She wants Josie to understand how she feels, because she knows her words would totally fail her right now. There's no point in denying anything anymore. Even her wolf wants Josie. 

Hope slowly pulls away, and waits for Josie to open her eyes again. When the younger girl does, they stare each other in the eyes. Without words, they agree on what to do next.

"We'll do it." Josie says, her eyes still on Hope. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! That's the little scare that got Hope to realize what she feels for Josie.
> 
> I hope you liked it guys!


	13. The Merge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo.
> 
> I was supposed to update yesterday. Sorry to the ones who waited.

Hope takes a quick glance at Josie. The brunette is standing on the other side of the classroom, talking to the teacher about god knows what. 

Josie is wearing tight black pants, a white button up shirt with a cute collar and a yellow jacket. Hope thinks it's not fair. Nobody should look that good while wearing yellow. That's not a color that makes someone hot, but Josie Saltzman manages to pull it off. 

Hope knows she's staring, but she can't help it. It's been three days since their first kiss, and two days since their last one. Freya, Alaric and Caroline made them swear they wouldn't get closer until Freya and Keelin would get to Mystic Falls. 

Hope's aunt insisted to be there when the claiming would happen. It's actually the only thing that made Josie's parents to accept the claim. Freya said she'd make sure it would be safe for Hope, and for Josie. 

Freya would get to the school today, more like tonight, and Hope was just dying for her to finally be here. The tribrid missed spending alone time with Josie. She missed cuddling with Josie. She missed kissing Josie. 

"You staring at my sister is pretty gross Mikaelson." Lizzie says with a fake gag.

Hope rolls her eyes and decides to tease Lizzie a little.

"Soon, staring at your sister won't be the only thing I'll be doing." 

Lizzie looks like the idea is totally offending to her. She opens her mouth and then closes it. Hope smirks, happy she finally managed to shut the blonde girl up. 

"What's going on here?" Josie says as she sits down next to Hope. 

"Your girlfriend is being disgusting and putting horrible images in my head!" Lizzie groans. "I'm out of here."

Josie's mouth hangs open, and her eyes go wide. She quickly turns to Hope, looking totally panicked.

"I swear I didn't tell her you're my girlfriend."

Hope smirks and shakes her head. "You don't want me to be your girlfriend then."

"That's… not what I said." Josie says, a light blush forming on her cheeks as she looks down. 

Hope reaches out and gently places a strand of Josie's hair behind her ear, carefull as to not expose her neck as she's doing so. That's another thing they promised. Josie would keep her hair down to cover her neck as to not tempt Hope, and they both would hide their marks. Just to make sure Hope would stay in control until they'd go through with the claim.

Hope smiles and nods. "Then what do you want Josie?"

"I-I want to know what you said to Lizzie."

All of a sudden, Hope's confidence fall. She wasn't expecting this. She really didn't mean for Josie to hear what she said earlier. She only said that to tease Lizzie. 

"You're blushing! Oh my god, Hope what did you say?" Josie says barely containing her laughter.

"I told Lizzie that I would soon be doing way more than stare at you." Hope says, avoiding Josie's eyes.

Now, Josie can't help it, she starts laughing. Hope quickly looks up, a fond smile growing as she sees her soulmate look so free. 

"Miss Saltzman! Please be quiet, or I'll have to ask you to leave class and inform your father." Their teacher scolds Josie.

Josie's eyes grow big, she puts a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter and nods to let the teacher know she'll stop. With one last glare at Hope and Josie, the teacher looks back to the board. Hope's eyes go back to Josie, and the fond smile comes back. Josie takes her hand off of her mouth, and returns Hope's smile.

Slowly, the tribrid moves her hand on the desk, getting closer and closer to Josie's. Hope can see that the brunette is doing her best to focus on what the teacher says, but her eyes betray her. Every few seconds, the siphoner's eyes flicker to look at Hope's slowly approaching hand. When the tribrid's pinkie actually intertwine with Josie's, Hope hears the brunette actually stop breathing for a second or two. 

Hope smirks. A couple of weeks ago, she was avoiding Josie at all costs, and now she was making her a blushing mess by just touching her pinkie. She thinks about how such a little amount of time can change everything. 

Then, Josie takes her hand away and Hope frowns. She's relieved when Josie just wipes her hand on her pants and then takes Hope's whole hand in hers. The brunette's eyes don't leave their teacher, but the blush on her cheeks is enough for Hope. Tonight, they'll finally get to be together.

Hope is just waiting for that moment to come, and then she'll ask Josie to be her girlfriend.

She's determined to protect Josie at all cost. Her soulmate would never be harmed again.

* * *

"Mikaelson!"

Hope stops and turns around, surprised to see Penelope Park standing behind her. The short haired witch looks pissed, but carefull. 

"We need to talk." Penelope says.

"Actually, I was heading-"

"That was not me asking, that was me demanding."

Hope rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "Fine, talk."

Penelope looks around before shaking her head as she clutches a book to her chest.

"Not here."

Hope sighs, then she turns around and makes a sign to tell Penelope to follow her. The tribrid leads them to her room, and closes the door behind them after Penelope walked in. That's when Hope really gets a good look at the book in the witch's hands. It's not really a book, more like a journal.

Penelope's eyes follow Hope's. "That's part of what I want to talk to you about."

The tribrid frowns, suddenly very curious. "Okay, then talk."

"I heard something really… interesting. You and Josie are soulmates."

Hope's frown deepens, nobody except their families were supposed to know that. The tribrid takes two steps closer, ready to threaten the witch.

Penelope rolls her eyes. "No need to get all wolfie on me Mikaelson. I won't tell."

"And why wouldn't you?" Hope asks, not trusting Penelope at all.

"Because, you might not believe me, but I do love Josie. I wouldn't do anything that could hurt her." 

Hearing Josie's ex-girlfriend say those words spark a very jealous feeling in Hope's chest. Suddenly, images of Josie's fifteenth birthday comes to the tribrid's mind, and she feels like tearing Penelope apart. 

"Hope… your eyes, they're gold." The witch says, fear slowly seeping in her voice.

Hope quickly turns around, hiding her face from Penelope. She closes them, and breathes deep. She needs to gain control over her wolf again, she can't hurt Penelope. Not over a thing that happened more than a year ago. The witch stays away from the tribrid, leaving room for Hope to breathe. 

After a couple of minutes, Hope feels okay again. Her anger and jealousy disappear and she feels like herself again. Slowly, she turns around to face Penelope again.

"A-are they blue again?" Hope says, her voice shaking.

Penelope nods. "Uh, yeah. Are you okay?"

Hope swallows the lump in her throat. "I have some troubles with my wolf."

"Oh, okay." Penelope walks closer. "Do you want me to keep talking now?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Like I said, I know you and Josie are soulmates. I need to tell you why I broke up with Josie." 

"I feel like you're trying to make me angry again." Hope says, almost growling.

"No! I just… I didn't fell out of love with her. I broke up with her because I loved her." Penelope sighs. "Look, just read the pages I bookmarked in this journal."

Hope hesitantly takes the journal Penelope is handing her. She quickly turns the pages to find the ones that have been bookmarked. But as she turns the pages, a frown appears on her face. There's so many handwriting in the journal. It's only when she recognize her own that she stops. It's not only her handwriting, it's a part of her own journal.

Hope lifts her head to glare at the raven haired girl.

"It's exactly what you think. I gave you all a pen on Christmas last year. Everytime someone writes with them, it appears in this book." Penelope rolls her eyes when Hope keeps glaring at her. "Don't look at me like that, I'm pretty sure you'll be thanking me in a couple of minutes."

Hope decides to just keep looking through the book, and she goes straight to the bookmarked pages. She goes over them quickly, her frown deepening with every word. 

"What's the Merge?"

"Can't you read Mikaelson? It's like a curse, and it was placed on the twin's coven." Penelope says, avoiding Hope's eyes. "It's a mental battle. When twins turn 22, they have to go through with it. The stronger twin basically kills the weakest one, and they become one. That's how the leader of the Gemini coven is chosen."

Hope isn't sure she's hearing things right. One of the twin is gonna die on the day of their 22nd birthday? 

"The twins, they don't know about this, right?" Penelope shakes her head. "Who wrote all of this?"

"I'll let you guess."

Hope shakes her head. "No, it can't be. Dr. Saltzman wouldn't keep something like that from his own daughters."

"You don't believe me? Well, read the last lines he wrote."

_ I can't tell the twins. I have to protect their innocence. I have to protect them from tearing each other apart. I'll keep this a secret as long as I don't find a way to stop it. There has to be a way. _

"See, I'm not lying." Penelope says.

"What does any of this have to do with your relationship with Josie?"

The witch looks down. "I thought that by breaking up with her, I could force her to stand up for herself. But it just seems like she became even more codopendant." Penelope looks up and straight into Hope's eyes. "I need you to make sure nothing happens to her. You need to make sure the Merge doesn't happen, and if it does… you need to make sure Josie wins."

"I'm gonna stop this. You can count on it." Hope says. 

* * *

The tribrid can't help but glare at Alaric as she's sitting by Josie's side in his office. They're all waiting for Freya and Keelin. The women called them a few minutes ago to tell them they were getting close to the school. 

Her eyes are still on Josie's father when the brunette places her hand on top of hers. It's the first time Hope looks away from Alaric since she sat down. The Mikaelson girl looks to her right, meeting the soft brown eyes of her soulmate.

"What's wrong? You're tense." Josie says, worry clouding her voice.

"I,uh, nothing." Hope answers, giving her best fake smile to the brunette. "I was just… thinking."

Hope looks Josie in the eyes, begging her to just drop it. She doesn't want to bring the Merge up now. They needed to focus themselves on one thing at a time. First, they'd get through the claim and hopefully her wolf would calm down. Then, Hope would confront Alaric about the Merge. And finally, they'd tell the twins about it all. 

Josie's soft smile drops, but she doesn't insist. The brunette tries to take her hand away, but Hope tightens her hold on it.

"I'll tell you. Just not now."

Josie takes a shuddering breath. "Okay."

A soft knock on the door keeps Hope from trying to comfort Josie. Caroline quickly goes to open the door, and as soon as Freya and Keelin get through the door, Hope runs to them. Soon enough, Hope is being engulfed in a strong hug from the two women. It takes them a couple of minutes to actually let go of each other. It's been way too long since they last saw each other. 

When they pull apart, Freya wipes the happy tears from her cheeks. Then, the woman looks around before leaning into Hope's ear.

"She's cute, you got lucky."

Hope blushes. "Yeah, totally."

Then Freya talks loud enough for everyone to hear. "Shall we plan this claiming?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you guys feel about the merge?
> 
> NExt chapter... The claiming happens!


	14. Secrets and claiming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, uh?

Freya's been explaining the claim to them for about fifteen minutes. Hope's been bouncing her leg the whole time, desperately trying to ease her mind while occupying her body. Josie's been holding Hope's hand the whole time, and it's the only thing that kept the Mikaelson girl from standing up and pacing around.

"How do you suggest they do it?" Caroline asks, nervousness clear in her voice.

Freya glances at Hope, then at Josie, just to let her eyes go back to Caroline.

"Well… we could have Hope do it while being fully in control of herself. She could try biting Josie, and see if her wolf is satisfied with that." Freya sighs and her eyes go to Hope. "But, I don't think it'll work."

Hope is frowning now, nervous about what her aunt is surely about to suggest.

"Our best shot is to trigger Hope's wolf. I think the wolf won't be satisfied until it claims Josie."

"You're treating my wolf as a totally different individual." Hope says because she's not sure she understands. 

"It kind of is. Since you're not in control when the wolf takes over, it means it's not really you. However, it seems you share Josie as a mate. Let it claim Josie, and it'll calm down." 

"It's not a good idea." Hope says as she shakes her head. "What if the wolf hurts Josie? We can't be sure it won't hurt her if it's not me."

Freya sighs. "I told you. The wolf considers Josie as its mate, it won't hurt her."

Hope feels so far from sure about what her aunt is saying. Suddenly though, a thought strikes her. She quickly turns to look at the brunette still tightly holding her hand. Josie's eyes are a little wide, and she looks a little lost.

"Jo… what do you think?" Hope softly asks. "We'll do whatever you wanna do, okay?"

Josie turns her head, and soft brown eyes meet tumultuous blue ones. 

"I don't want to get bitten twice." Josie says with a wince. "I say we do what your aunt Freya thinks is best."

Josie's words make Hope's whole body tense up and she quickly avoids her soulmate's eyes to look at the floor. She feels like she can't breathe anymore. Fear is take a hold of her. 

"Hope, look at me." Josie says, but the Mikaelson girl doesn't look up. "Hope Andrea Mikaelson, look at me!" 

Josie's demanding voice startles Hope, and she quickly looks up at the brunette. Josie's tone of voice was stern, but her eyes are as gentle as ever. The Saltzman girl lifts a hand and gently places it on Hope's neck to make sure the auburn haired girl doesn't look away again.

"I trust you Hope. I trust all of you, understood?" Josie says as she looks Hope straight in the eyes.

Her words have little to no effect on Hope, and it makes Josie sigh and look down. She knows there's one thing that could help the tribrid right now, and the idea makes her a little uneasy, but she's willing to do it. For Hope.

"How about… we go to the flower field together?" Josie suggests as she looks back at Hope with a soft smile. "You could run around for a few hours, get some pressure out."

Hope's eyes brighten. "Y-you'd be okay with that?"

Josie's smile widens. "Yeah. Let's go."

The two teenagers stand up, but Alaric is quick to stand in their way.

"Where do you think you're going? We're trying to settle everything down right now."

This time, when Hope's eyes flash gold, it has nothing to do with a loss of control. Hope does it on purpose. If Josie's father doesn't get out of their way, she might do something she'll regret later.

"Dad, step aside." Josie says, her voice not so gentle anymore. "We'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Alaric, let them go." Freya says to the man when he still doesn't move.

He finally steps aside, and Hope makes sure to shove his shoulder with hers as she passes by him. He was being so annoying. Josie squeezes Hope's hand, gaining the tribrid's attention, and then she gives her a glare. The Mikaelson girl rolls her eyes before giving her soulmate a shrug.

They walk hand in hand to the secluded area behind the Old Mill where Hope usually shifts. The tribrid takes her clothes off quickly behind a tree, and then starts the change. Her mind is so preoccupied that the shift lasts longer than it normally would. When it's over, Hope quickly runs to Josie. The brunette is curled up on the ground, sobbing. Without hesitation, Hope cuddles her. 

It takes a while for Josie to actually calm down this time, and it makes Hope whine in helplessness. When the Saltzman girl finally stops crying, she reaches out and holds the white wolf close. They stay like that for hours, even after Josie tells Hope she can go and run, Hope prefers to stay cuddled up with her soulmate. 

"Hope!" Josie giggles after the wolf licks her face. "Come on, go run for a couple of minutes at least. We came here so you could release some pressure."

Hope whines, but after getting a little push from Josie, she takes off running. She runs as fast as she can, wanting to come back to her soulmate as soon as possible. After about ten minutes, Hope stops near Josie and leans her head to the side, as if to ask if it was enough.

"Another five minutes, okay?"

The wolf barks and takes off running again. This time, it's Josie who calls her back, but the tribrid is all too happy to run back to her soulmate's side. As always, Hope shifts back behind her tree, quickly puts her clothes back on and goes straight back to Josie. The Mikaelson girl is surprised to see that the brunette already stopped crying when she picks her up. There's still fresh tears on her cheeks, but they are no longer falling from her eyes.

"I'm so sorry my shifting took so long today… I just couldn't seem to focus." Hope says as she's carrying a very sleepy Josie in her arms.

The Saltzman girl yawns and buries her face in Hope's neck. "It's fine."

"Do you mind sleeping in my room tonight?" Hope asks softly. "I'd feel better knowing you're next to me after the awful day we just had."

Josie lifts her head to look at Hope. "I wasn't planning on sleeping in my room tonight."

Hope smiles and looks down at the girl in her arms. "Good."

They quickly get to the tribrid's room after that, and as soon as they get there, Hope settles Josie down on her bed.

"I'll just… take a shower real quick, okay? I'll be back in like ten minutes." 

Josie yawns again as she settles under Hope's blankets. "Okay."

As promised, Hope's shower takes a little less than ten minutes. She quickly pulls her wet hair in a messy bun and puts night clothes on before stepping back in her room. She fully expected Josie to be asleep by now, but the brunette is still very much awake when Hope sits on her bed. 

"Hope…" Josie starts, her eyes not meeting Hope's.

The Mikaelson girl gets a little worried. She gently pushes some hair away from Josie's face, and then let's her thumb strokes the brunette's still healing cheek.

"What is it?" Hope says, barely above a whisper. 

Josie lifts her eyes to meet Hope's gaze, and now they're full of determination.

"I want you to claim me."

Hope frowns. "What? Like, now?" Josie nods, and Hope just knows there's no way she'll change her mind. "Okay, if that's really what you want. Let me go fetch your parents and my aunt."

"No!" Josie sits up in bed and she looks panicked. "I don't want them around. I-it doesn't feel right to do it with them around. It feels way too intimate."

"But… Jo, your parents only agreed to the claim because they'd be there." Hope argues.

"Hope, please. I trust you." 

Josie's words are like a knife through Hope's heart as she suddenly remembers the heavy secret she's keeping from her soulmate. 

"I can't." Hope says as she shakes her head. 

"W-what?" Josie's voice breaks. 

"I've been keeping a secret from you. I can't go through with the claim unless I tell you about the secret." 

And then, Hope tells everything to Josie. Well, everything she knows, which is not a lot. She tells the brunette about the curse, the merge, and what it's all about. She watches with a sinking heart as Josie's face falls, and her eyes fill with fear. 

A silent tear fall from Josie's eyes, and the brunette quickly wipes it away bitterly. She chuckles darkly.

"I guess the dream I had the other night makes sense then. " Her eyes meet Hope's again. "Hope… You still want to be with me? Even if I'll probably die in a couple of years?"

The tribrid frowns, she can't believe Josie is even asking that. As gently as she can, Hope pulls Josie close and kisses her. It only lasts a couple of seconds, the press of their lips together. Then, Hope pulls away. She watches as it takes a couple of seconds for Josie to open her eyes. When Josie does open them, they're full of tears. So, Hope does the only thing she can think about, she kisses her again, and again. She kisses Josie until the brunette is smiling, and even giggling a little.

"Well, now that I got you smiling again, I want you to listen to me very carefully Josie Saltzman." Hope waits until she's sure Josie is listenening. "You are my soulmate. Not Lizzie, not Landon and not anyone else. You're the only one I'll ever want to be with. And believe me when I say, the Merge is never gonna happen. I won't let it happen."

Josie's smile gets a little bigger. "I should have known you'd say something like that. You're Hope Mikaelson, a little curse isn't going to stop you."

Hope smiles back. "Damn right it won't!"

Josie shakes her head playfully before leaving a soft peck on Hope's lips. Then, a wave of shyness goes through her and she avoids Hope's eyes. 

"Tell me Hope… Do you wanna be my girlfriend? I think that since I'll have your mark on my neck, we'd better be a couple, you know?"

Hope smirks. "I was wondering how much time it'd take you to actually ask me."

Josie shrugs. "And I was wondering if you would take me out on a date. I guess you're just not that romantic."

Hope's eyes go big. "Come on! With everything that happened, when would I have had the time to ask you out?"

The brunette laughs at the tribrid's scandalized face. "It was a joke Hope. But, you didn't answer my question."

The auburn haired girl's whole face softens. "Of course I wanna be your girlfriend."

"Good. Now that it's all out of the way, let's do the claiming thing."

Just like that, Hope feels nervous again, but still she nods. Josie gives her a comforting smile before she slowly takes her hair away from her neck. As soon as her neck is exposed, Josie sees Hope's eyes change color. Now, she's a little nervous too. She knows that deep down, Hope and her wolf are both her soulmates, but still. Hope gently tugs Josie closer until the brunette is straddling her. Now that the tribrid has full access, the brunette expects the biting to happen, but it doesn't. 

Hope's hands are on the hem of Josie's shirt, and then gold meets brown. It's as if Hope desperately wants to ask a question, but her current state prevents her from doing so. Josie wonders for a moment what Hope wants, and the tribrid clearly gets frustrated. When Hope slowly starts to lift Josie's shirt, the Saltzman girl understand what she was trying to ask.

"You want to take my shirt off?" Hope groans. "No, you want to see my mark." Hope nods. "Okay, do whatever you want."

When Josie ends up in only her bra, she feels a little naked. However, Hope's eyes never travel near Josie's breast. They go from her neck and directly to her mark. The gold of the tribrid's eyes only seems to shine brighter when she looks back up. It's as if she needed to be sure about them being soulmates before actually claiming Josie.

As gently as she can, Hope pushes Josie's head to the side, fully exposing her neck. She doesn't hesitate for a second before sinking her sharp teeth into the soft flesh of her soulmate. She hears Josie's whine of pain, and she feels Josie's nails painfully dig into her arms, but Hope's can't bring herself to pull away yet. 

It takes a couple of seconds, and the taste of her soulmate's blood on her tongue to make Hope pull away. Gold slowly lets blue take over as Hope blinks a couple of times. When she sees the blood on Josie's neck, Hope panics.

"Josie! You're bleeding so much." Hope gently lifts Josie and settles her back on the bed. "Oh my god, let me just… I'll go get something to put on the wound. Like a bandage or something."

Josie doesn't even have the chance to answer before the tribrid disappears in the bathroom. Hope comes back a few seconds later, holding antiseptic and bandages. The sight of her soulmate being so concerned shouldn't bring butterflies to the brunette's stomach, and yet… She still had a hard time believing Hope Mikaelson actually cared about little Josie Saltzman. 

"Does it hurt?" Hope asks not touching Josie yet.

"It hurt when you bit me, but now… not that much." 

Hope still frowns, and very carefully starts to clean the wound on Josie's neck. The brunette winces as soon as the cloth makes contact with the wound. It still like a bitch actually, but she didn't want to tell that to Hope. No need to alarm her girlfriend, or make her feel guilty about something that had to happen.

"Do you think your wolf is satisfied now?"

The tribrid's cheeks turn red. "Yeah. I know it is."

They stay silent after that. Josie wincing from time to time, and Hope gently cleans the wound. The only time Josie actually moves is when Hope finishes bandaging her neck. She snuggles herself into Hope's side and hums softly.

"We're gonna be okay from now on, right?" Josie asks.

"Yeah, we will." Hope swallows with difficulty as a blush covers her cheeks. "I think you should put your shirt back on now."

Josie giggles. "Your wolf was begging to take it off, and you ask me to put it back on?"

"Josie…" Hope whines.

The brunette moves away from the Mikaelson girl as she rolls her eyes playfully.

"Fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So??? 
> 
> They're finally soulmates in all the ways possible!


	15. Unexpected event

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> I'm so sorry for the long wait... I had writer's block and it felt horrible. I hope this chapter will make up for it.

Hope gently threads her fingers through Josie's hair. The brown locks are soft, and Hope thinks she could plays with them for hours if her soulmate let her. She's been unable to sleep after she claimed the younger girl, but Josie fell asleep soon after. Turns out, the whole claiming process drained a lot of the brunette's energy. 

Sometime during the night, Freya opened the door of Hope's room and found the couple cuddling on the bed. She smiled at her still awake niece, receiving a shy smile in answer. The woman decided that the teenagers deserved to rest a little, so she let them be. She didn't see the bandage on Josie's neck, or the way Hope's whole body tensed when she came in. 

That's how they still are now, hours after Freya came to check up on them. With Hope laying on her back, and Josie cuddled to her right side, her head resting near Hope's chest. In that moment, Hope feels good. She's never felt as complete as she does now. 

But that thought scares her to death, because… what if it doesn't last?

What if Josie dies? What if she leaves?

What if… she simply regrets the whole claiming?

A thousand thoughts run through Hope's mind, and whenever they get too loud, or too oppressing, she tightens her hold on Josie. Because Josie is her soulmate. Josie is her mate. Josie is hers, and she's Josie's. 

The tribrid is kinda surprised Josie hasn't woken up yet. She's been squeezing her a lot, and the brunette's been asleep for a little more than 10 hours now. She'd never wake Josie up on purpose, but Hope kinda wishes she'd wake soon. Her arm feels numb, she needs to go to the bathroom, and she's so damn hungry.

Her wish is heard a couple of minutes later when Josie starts to move. Gently, Hope moves some hair out of her face and smiles down at her as the brunette's eyes flutter open.

"Good morning Jo."

Josie's face splits into a blinding smile. "Am I still dreaming?"

Hope chuckles. "No. But, it's good to know you dream about me."

"You started to appear in my dreams when I was like twelve." Josie says just before yawning.

"Twelve?" Hope asks, an amused smile playing on her lips. 

Josie rolls her eyes and sits up in bed, quickly followed by Hope.

"I had a crush on you."

"You had a crush on me?" The tribrid asks, her voice full of surprise. 

Josie turns her head so she can look at her girlfriend with a soft smile.

"Of course I did, did you ever see yourself in a mirror?"

Hope playfully rolls her eyes before simply getting off of the bed. 

"Hope…" Josie whines. "Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom, I need to see myself in a mirror apparently." The tribrid says over her shoulder, her eyes catching Josie's.

The brunette smiles and shakes her head. When Hope disappears in the bathroom, Josie takes a little look around the room. It's neat, and it somehow represents Hope in a perfect way. Then, the brunette brings her hand up to softly touch the area where she got bit last night. The bandage is still in place, and when her fingers make contact with it, she's surprised to feel no pain at all. Josie frowns, and quickly tears the bandage off. When she touches the skin where the bite is, she feels no wound. Her skin is soft under her fingers, even though she can still feel the bumps of the bite. It feels as if the skin healed over night, which is impossible. Josie's just a witch, she doesn't have superhealing.

Quickly, Josie gets up and walks to the bathroom. She knocks three times.

"Hope, please get out."

"I'm washing my hands, I'll be out in a second."

"Please… hurry." 

In the bathroom, Hope hears the slight panic in Josie's voice, so she quickly wipes her hands and open the door.

"Josie, what's wr-" Hope catches sight of the missing bandage, and at the same time, of the healed skin. "Jo, your neck-"

"I know. How does it look?"

Instead of replying, Hope moves a little so Josie can step inside the bathroom and take a look at her neck. When the brunette's eyes fall to the claiming bite on her neck, her eyes widen. Sure enough, the skin has completely healed during the night. All that's left is a light pink scar. 

"What do you think it means?" Josie asks Hope as she turns to look at her.

It hurts the tribrid to see how the worry brings tears to her soulmate's eyes, so she steps closer and brings Josie in a tight embrace. Her hold on the brunette's waist is tight and she lets herself breathe in Josie's familiar smell. 

"I don't know." Hope says. "But, we'll figure it out. Maybe… maybe we should go see your parents and my aunts, they'll help us."

"They'll be pissed." Josie says before she buries her face in Hope's neck.

"Your father will probably try to kill me with his crossbow." The tribrid says with a chuckle.

Josie quickly gets out of Hope's neck to look at her with a glare.

"No, he won't."

Hope shrugs. "If you say so, now come on, let's go."

* * *

Once again, Josie and Hope are sitting in the middle of Josie's parents' office. They're both looking at the ground, avoiding the eyes of the four adults in the room. They told Josie's parents and Hope's aunts everything that happened the night before with the claiming, and now they're waiting for the storm to hit them. 

Caroline slowly walks closer to Josie and kneels in front of her daughter.

"Sweetie, could I see your mark?" The woman softly asks.

Josie nods before she starts moving her hair away from her neck. She feels Hope's tension, her nervousness too, but there's nothing she can do to appease her soulmate right now. Carefully, Josie exposes her fresh claiming mark. She silently watches as her mother's eyes look over the bite, her eyes widening a littl when she sees the wound is already healed.

Caroline hums and gives a comforting smile to her daughter. "It's a clear bite. Hope did a good job." Then, she turns her head to the Mikaelson girl, still smiling. "You showed a lot of restrain, it must have been hard."

"I didn't wanna hurt Josie." Hope says, her voice small.

"Of course you didn't want to hurt her." Caroline turns to Josie again before she stands up. Gently, she strokes her daughter's cheek. "You've been really irresponsible, but I'm glad everything turned out okay."

"I'm sorry mom." Josie says, looking down again. "But… there was this feeling in my chest, and it kept telling me we had to be alone during the claiming."

"It's understandable sweetie, but it wasn't safe. You should've talked to us about it."

"I know."

"How did you heal the bite? I'm guessing you didn't give her your blood since there's a scar." Freya asks her niece.

Suddenly, both girls look uncomfortable. They look at each other, as if to silently ask the other permission.

"We didn't." Hope finally drops. "I put a bandage on the wound last night, and it was healed this morning. We don't know how it happened."

"Wait." Alaric interrupts them. "This is ridiculous. Are we really about to let this go? Hope could have killed Josie! I should have locked you up in a cell!"

"Dad! This is not Hope's fault, it was my idea." Josie says, suddenly standing up. 

"Yeah? Well, it's no better. We had an agreement and you broke our trust!"

"You wanna talk about broken trust? Then let's talk about the Merge." Josie angrily yells.

A sudden silence fills the room. Alaric looks shocked, Caroline looks devastated, Freya and Keelin are confused, and Hope is surprised her girlfriend brought the Merge up in this moment. 

Carefully, Hope stands up and slips her hand into Josie's. She can feel every bit of anger her brunette girlfriend is feeling, and it kinda scares the tribrid. She never thought Josie could bottle up that much rage. The Saltzman girl's eyes never leave her father, she wants answers, and she wants them now.

"Did you really think we'd never find out? There's a deadline to our lives, and you never thought we'd like to know?" Josie takes two steps closer to her father, but her hand holds Hope's tightly as she does so, forcing Hope to follow her. "You had absolutely no right to keep it from Lizzie and I. So don't talk about trust, because I might never trust you again. Keep your judgement to yourself, and keep your nose out of my relationship."

Without another word, Josie storms out of the room, pulling Hope with her. 

"Josie, where are you going?" Hope says as she quickly walks to keep up with her soulmate. 

"Flower field." Is all Josie gives as an answer. 

Suddenly, Hope very excited, but she knows it's just her wolf side acting up. Ever since Josie got her soul mark, Hope has been feeling her wolf a lot more. It's as if it became a bigger part of her. Like it wants to take more space. Hope doesn't really mind, but the loss of control still scares her to death.

It takes them only a couple of minutes to get to their destination. Normally, Hope would just go behind her tree and shift quickly before coming back to cuddle Josie, but today she hesitates. With Josie's hand still in hers and her soulmate's feeling being so overwhelming that it makes Hope feel like she'll puke, Hope feels like she can't shift just yet. 

"Josie, can I do something?" 

The brunette quickly shakes her head. "Not now. Just shift and come back."

"Jo… I don't like the fact that you prefer talking to me when I'm a wolf." Gently, Hope takes Josie's face in her hands and strokes the brunette's cheeks with her thumbs. "You can talk to me when I'm human."

Josie takes a shaky breath. "I-I know. I'm just not ready, and I know you want to shift. I can feel it."

"You… can feel it?"

"Yeah, it's weird. It's never been this strong before. It's as if my own bones were about to break. I can't take it and I'm not even the one who's gonna shift."

Hope's confusion gets even deeper then, because… she doesn't feel like shifting  _ that _ bad. Yes, her wolf got excited when Josie mentioned the flower field, but she could wait at least a day or two before shifting again.

Her thoughts get cut off when Josie quickly pecks her lips before pushing her away with a soft smile.

"Come on!"

Hope rolls her eyes, but she still turns around and walks to her tree. She takes her time to remove her clothes before shifting and folds them. Then, she allows the change to start. When the first bone breaks, a piercing scream echoes in the forest. Josie never screamed before. Just as quickly as she let it start, Hope stops the change. She gets her clothes on as quickly as she can, and then runs back to where she left Josie. 

The tribrid stops in her tracks when she finally catches sight of her soulmate. Josie is on her knees, clearly in pain, and her arm is a in a very weird angle. Hope tries to understand what's happening, but her brain refuses to catch up. Josie couldn't be shifting, she's not a werewolf… She doesn't even have the gene!

"Hope! Don't just stand there, go help her."

Hope quickly turns her head to look at her aunt Freya, and winces when she sees her aunt is with her wife and Josie's parents. Everyone is completely shocked, including Hope. She feels frozen in place. Help Josie? How? She doesn't even understand what's happening.

"Hope." Freya places both of her hands on her niece's shoulders. "I don't know how it happened, but Josie is obviously going to change as a wolf." Gently, the blonde woman takes Hope's chin in her hand and forces her to look at Josie. "She's hurting. You know how to help. You're the only she's gonna want near her. Go over there, and get her through this."

Freya release Hope. For a second or two, the teenager still doesn't move and then she's sprinting to her soulmate's side. 

"Hope…" Josie says as soon as the tribrid sinks to her knees in front of her.

Hope hesitates before gently pushing Josie's hair away from her face so she could look into her warm brown eyes. The amount of pain she feels, and sees on Josie's face is breaking Hope's heart. Hope tries hard to think of the words her father spoke to her the first time she changed into her wolf form. She's not sure she'll say it right, but she needs to try.

"Listen to me Jo. You need to concentrate on the air in your lungs and on the ground beneath you, okay? It's gonna hurt, and it might even take hours-"

"Hours?" 

Hope almost hears her own voice say that same thing years ago. She gives Josie her most gentle smile.

"I know, but you have to allow the pain in, and let it swallow you whole. This way, it won't be able to break you."

It takes Josie a little less than an hour to actually shift into her wolf form, but when she manages to do it, Hope's heart soar. She feels so proud of Josie, and… she loves her so much. Without even hesitating, the tribrid throws her arms around Josie's neck. She buries her face in the dark brown fur, and lets her tears spill. 

Far behind them, the four adults are still watching with wonder in their eyes. Nobody understands what just happened, but everyone knows they just witnessed something spectacular.

"What the hell just happened?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	16. Completed bond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!
> 
> Nothing to say except... this one is full of fluff.
> 
> Enjoy!

Hope doesn't even know how long she spends just holding Josie close to her. Her soulmate's wolf doesn't complain, she doesn't even move. The tribrid's face is buried in the brown fur, and Josie's scent is filling her nose. The tears stopped after a while and now she's just holding, not ready to let go. 

The auburn haired girl still doesn't comprehend how this is possible. None of this should have happened, and still… She's holding Josie's werewolf form in her arms. But Josie shouldn't be a werewolf. She doesn't have the gene and she didn't kill anyone. Deep down, she knows it must have something to do with this soulmate thing, or even with the claiming, but right now she doesn't wanna think about all that stuff.

Suddenly, a branch cracks from behind them and Hope feels the wolf in her arms tense. The tribrid loosen her hold on Josie to be able to look at her, and even comfort her, but as soon as Josie is out of Hope's embrace, she steps in front of her. The wolf bare its teeth, and growls lowly, daring anyone to come close. The Mikaelson girl turns around to face the intruder, and when she sees Dr. Saltzman trying to get close, Hope can't help but roll her eyes. She just wishes he'd mind his own business for once. 

When Josie's father tries to take another step closer, the brown wolf's growl gets louder and she looks even more mad than human Josie looked a couple of hours earlier. Hope watches as Alaric stops and frowns, he looks a little angry that the wolf won't let him get any closer. The tribrid smirks, feeling all too proud of her soulmate in this moment. 

The auburn haired girl stands up and walks until she stands by Josie's side. Gently, Hope pets Josie's head, hoping to calm her down a little. She knows how feelings can be overwhelming as a wolf, just as she knows how hard it is to not tear humans apart. Josie's head turns and she looks up at Hope, and at this moment Hope understands everything. The brown wolf wants everyone gone. This is their place, the four adults shouldn't be here.

Hope smiles softly as she pets Josie just behind her ear.

"You should all go." The tribrid says, her eyes never leaving the wolf. "I'll handle this."

"Hope-" The man tries.

The Mikaelson girl quickly glares at him. "I said : leave."

"What? No, Josie is my dau-"

"Are you stupid or what?" Keelin asks as she grabs him by the arm. "Your daughter is ready to tear you apart right now, the only thing that keeps her from doing so is Hope. So, you're gonna listen to her and go back to school." 

"But-"

This time it's Josie's loud growl that stops him. Hope has been able to feel Josie's tension since the begining, but right now it reached its peak. Gently, but firmly, the tribrid grips the brown wolf's snout and forces her to look up at her. 

"It's enough now." Hope says firmly.

For a moment Josie's eyes are full of defiance, the tribrid wonders if her soulmate will actually listen to her. The Alpha blood inside of her is boiling with dominance right now, but she doesn't want to impose that to Josie, not yet. However, she needs to make sure the brunette listens to her, even in this new form. Then suddenly, Josie's tail goes down and she gets her snout free of Hope's hold only to lick her hand and snuggle into it. The tribrid smiles down at Josie before going to scratch behind her ear again, showing her that it's okay. 

"I trust that you two will be careful. I want you both back at school as soon as the sun rises, is that clear Hope?" Freya says.

The auburn haired girl doesn't look up at her aunt. "We'll be there."

Hope faintly hears Caroline's worried voice, but she doesn't pay attention to it. She stares right into Josie's brown eyes, and in this moment it feels like her heart might explode. Somehow, having Josie in this form made everything a lot better than it was before, even if it was already amazing. Now, she gets to have Josie in everyway possible and it feels like the bond is complete. With the brown wolf, Hope finally has a pack, and that is something she'd never thought she'd get. She wasn't witch enough to have a coven and not werewolf enough to have a pack. She used to belong nowhere, and maybe it was simply because she just belonged with Josie all along.

The tribrid waits until she can't hear the adults anymore before tearing her eyes away from Josie. She quickly looks around, making sure they're finally alone. When she's sure, Hope doesn't even take the time to hide behind a tree to take off her clothes. She strips of her clothes quickly, and then starts transforming for the second time that night. It might be the fastest change she ever experienced. She barely feels her bones breaks, barely hears them crack. Hope is way too excited at the idea of running around the flower field with Josie. 

As soon as she's done shifting, the tribrid is attacked by the brown wolf. It's all done in fun though, she feels no aggression coming from Josie, only happiness. Then a thought crosses her mind. She used to not feel Josie's emotions when she was a wolf and Josie was human, but now she can. She wonders if they have to be in the same form to actually feel each other.

Suddenly, Hope feels Josie nipping her ear, desperately trying to get her attention. Hope quickly turns her head and licks Josie, now is not the time to think about anything than having fun. The white wolf quickly forces the brown one off of her and then she takes off running. From time to time, the tribrid takes a look behind her, making sure her soulmate manages to keep up. She grimaces mentally as she remembers her first night as a wolf, she was so damn clumsy. Josie doesn't seem to have this problem, it almost seemed as if she was always meant to be a wolf, and maybe she was. 

Again, she gets so lost in her head that the brown wolf catches up to her. Hope barely has time to register what is happening before she's being shoved to the side. She tumbles down, and for a second she's dizzy. Then, she gets up again and growls as her soulmate looks at her with a playful glint in her eyes. Josie wants to play? The tribrid will give her a run for her money. 

They play, run and cuddle for hours. Neither of them see the time pass, but soon enough the sun is rising and they have to go back. Josie tries to resist, tries to push Hope to play or run again, but the tribrid doesn't let her. She gave her word to her aunt, and she has every intention to keep it. The brown wolf whines, but still allows Hope to lead her back.

It takes a couples of seconds for Hope to change back to her human form, and then to starts putting her clothes back on. After she's done, Hope realizes Josie hasn't moved. She quickly looks at her soulmate, and is confused by the look in Josie's eyes. The tribrid groans, if only she could feel Josie's emotions now. When the brown wolf understands Hope's confusion, she quickly starts biting the Mikaelson girl's clothes. At first, Hope is annoyed. What is that even supposed to mean? But then, it dawns on her. Josie has no clothes to put back on. Her change was so unexpected that she didn't get her clothes off before it happened. 

"Uh, why don't you… like follow me to the school like this." Hope says. "We'll get you in a transition cell, and I'll go get you some clothes, okay?"

The wolfs whines, but when Hope gently pets her head she stops. Together, they walk back to school. Hope is thankfull for the empty walls as she walks inside with a werewolf Josie by her side. The wolf follows the tribrid down to the transition cells, willingly and with much control. Hope is really amazed by how well Josie is handling her wolf, and she can't wait to talk about it all with her. 

She wants to know if her soulmate loved the flower field as much as she does. 

She wants to know if Josie felt free as she was running around with her. 

Most importantly, Hope wants to know if she felt their connection grow incredibly deeper, just like she did. 

It pains the tribrid to close the door of the transition cell behind herself before leaving, but she knows she has to do it. Deep down, Hope knows Josie wouldn't hurt anyone, but she still can't take any chances. As quickly as she can, the auburn haired girl runs upstairs. She doesn't even bother going to Josie's room, instead she goes straight to her own. It takes her a couple of seconds to grab a big New Orleans hoodie and some sweat pants. Josie would be fine with that. Then, she runs back downstairs, or at least she tries to.

Instead, as soon as she's out of her room, Hope runs straight into someone, sending them butt first on the ground. 

"I'm so sorry!" Hope quickly says helping Keelin up. "I was in a rush, and I didn't see you."

"It's alright sweetie. I was just coming to see if you actually came back. Freya is keeping Josie's parents from running straight back into the forest."

"We wanted to come find you as soon as we got back, I swear." The tribrid quickly defends them. "But… Josie didn't have clothes. Hers got ripped apart when she shifted. So I brought her to a transition cell, and now I was heading there to give her these." Hope says as she shows the clothes in her hands. 

Keelin smiles softly. "Oh, it makes sense. I'll tell them that, join us when you're ready."

"Thanks aunt Keelin!" Hope smiles brightly and then she takes off running again. 

When the tribrid gets to the transition cells, she's really surprised to find her soulmate already in her human form. Josie is sitting down, and Hope feels all her exhaustion as if it was her own. 

"Hope… can you, like, look away?" Josie asks with a shy voice.

The tribrid's cheeks heat up and she quickly turns around. She didn't even think about the fact that the brunette is _very_ much naked. She's mentally kicking her own ass, when Josie's beautiful laugh is heard from behind her. The auburn haired girl's grip on the clothes in her hands tightens, and she bites her lip, desperately keeping herself from turning around again. 

"Can I have the clothes in your hands?" The brunette adds.

Hope quickly throws them behind her, not even caring about where they land. She hears them land, and she's almost sure they didn't land in Josie's hands. The brunette sighs and the auburn haired girl hears her moving.

"Sorry…" Hope forces herself to say. 

"It's fine…" Josie says, her voice muffled. "I'm just so tired, and my whole body is aching."

"It's normal." Hope quickly says. "Your bones all broke like twice in a couple of hours. You'll get used to the pain. Oh, and superhealing, you know?"

Josie hums behind her, and Hope nods. She's wondering why it's taking her girlfriend so much time to put the clothes on, when a pair of arms circle around her waist. Hope doesn't tense, she'd recognize Josie any time. Then, the brunette buries her face in Hope's neck and inhales deeply. 

"You smell so good." Josie says, almost whining. "Why did I never noticed that before?"

"You'll have to deal with your new abilities." Hope replies with a giggle as Josie's nose tickles her neck. 

Josie smirks and brushes Hope's neck with her nose, but this time she does it on purpose. The laugh she gets out of her girlfriend is music to her ears after the eventful day they just had.

"Is the all powerful Hope Andrea Mikaelson _ticklish_?"

Hope tries to push away Josie's hands from around her waist, she needs to escape this situation _now_ , but the brunette doesn't let go, and Hope doesn't wanna hurt her. So, Josie keeps on attacking Hope's neck, brushing it with her nose and making the tribrid squirm in her grip.

"Josie…" Hope whines.

"You're adorable." Josie says as she stops, then she leaves a kiss on her girlfriend's neck.

The Mikaelson girl doesn't even try to hide the shiver that Josie's lips impose to her body. Instead, she closes her eyes and feels it. She feels how the brunette holds her tight, how her hands seems to have been made to touch her, how her lips practically burn her skin. Hope knows Josie must be feeling what's going on for her, but she can't seem to care, after all, those feelings are not entirely hers either. 

Suddenly, someone clears their throat near the door leading to the transition cells. Josie quickly step back, her lips leaving Hope's neck and her hands leaving Hope's waist. The tribrid doesn't even try to stop the glare she sends to the intruder.

"Oh my god, don't look at me like that! Dad sent me to get the both of you 'cause it was taking too long." 

"Thanks Lizzie, we'll be right there." Josie says to her sister with a shy smile. 

"Whatever…" The blonde says as she rolls her eyes and leaves. 

Josie chuckles as she watches her sister disappear. Then, she slips her hand into Hope's and starts to walk.

"Come on, I think we need answers."


	17. Loss of control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> I am so so sorry for the wait. Writer's block really is a bitch!
> 
> I really hope you'll enjoy this one!!

"Something feels different about you." Hope softly says as they're walking hand in hand to the headmaster's office. 

Josie stops walking almost immediately, her eyes meeting her girlfriend's only for a second. The brunette looks uneasy for a moment, and she quickly looks away, biting her bottom lip in the process. 

"I don't feel different." 

The high pitched tone of Josie's voice is a clear sign that the brunette is lying. Hope somehow feels disappointed that her soulmate is trying to hide something from her.

"Oh, please don't feel like this." Josie rushes out.

Hope frowns. "I… How-"

"Hope… I feel what you feel, remember? It's so strong now. This is crazy." Then the brunette sighs, and her eyes drop to the floor. "I feel different." Josie's voice is small, barely there. "I wanted to hurt my father earlier."

Hope takes a deep shaky breath. She knew that. Actually, the tribrid is still wondering how her newly turned girlfriend managed to not rip her own father apart. The control Josie showed that night is out of this world.

Hope uses her free hand to gently move Josie's chin until the brunette is looking at her.

"You, Josette Saltzman would never do that." Hope says, as she gently caresses Josie's cheek. "I know how strong the urge is to harm when we're in wolf form. Josie… you have no idea how strong you actually are. Any other person would have ripped him apart way before you even started to growl."

Josie's soft brown eyes are filled with vulnerability when they meet Hope's. "You really think so?"

The tribrid smiles. "Could you lean your face closer to mine?"

The brunette gives her soulmate a confused look, but still does as she's asked. When their faces are close enough, Hope leaves a soft kiss to Josie's nose, her lips lingering there for a couple of seconds. Actually, she leaves her lips there until Josie's arms go around her waist and pull her close. Then, the Mikaelson girl's lips go from the brunette's nose, to her cheek, then to her jaw, only to end up on her neck. There, she feels Josie shiver when her lips ghost over the freshly healed claiming mark. 

A sudden clear of throat makes them freeze. 

"We're waiting for you." Alaric says, his voice firm.

Hope makes a move to break their embrace, but Josie is clearly not ready to let go. The brunette's hold on the tribrid's waist tightens, actually it's almost too tight, almost bruising. 

"Josie, it's enough." The Mikaelson girl tells her girlfriend, tone soft, yet demanding.

It takes a couple of seconds, but then Josie's hold gets loose and she steps back from Hope. The brunette feels completely lost, like her body and mind are not entirely her own anymore. Like she has this rage and fury, and the only thing that makes it go quiet is the soft voice of her soulmate. 

Hope's hand slips into Josie's, and she gently guides her towards the office's door, but not without glaring at the man who interrupted them. As soon as they enter the office, all eyes are on them. Hope's aunts give their niece a loving smile, and Caroline looks beyond relieved to see her daughter safe and sound. 

When the vampire quickly makes her way to her daughter, Hope takes her hand back, wanting to let Josie get a much needed hug from her mother. The Saltzman girl looks almost panicked when their hands aren't linked anymore, but when she's in the arms of Caroline, the look fades away. Hope smiles when she feels a wave a love crash through their link. 

The Mikaelson girl gets closer to her aunts, getting two quick hugs in the process. Quickly, her attention is taken by the numerous books scattered on the desk. 

"We've been reading all night." Freya says as she places a soft hand Hope's tense shoulder. 

"Do you have answers for us?" Hope asks, her eyes glued to the papers on the desk.

Freya sighs. "Only theories, I'm afraid."

The tribrid closes her eyes tightly. She hates feeling powerless. Being a powerful supernatural means that she's mostly in control of what happens in her life, and when she's not… Well, it makes her feel angry.

"What's wrong Hope?" Josie asks, quickly getting out of her mother's embrace. "You're angry, what happened?"

Before the auburn haired girl has the chance to answer, Josie cuddles to her side. Hope's cheeks take a faint shade of pink at the brunette's display of affection. Not that she'd complain though. Her aunts look at them with teasing smiles, and it makes Hope roll her eyes. 

"They don't really know what's happening, they just have theories."

"Oh." Josie drops, before burying her face in Hope's neck. "What are their theories?"

The question is asked quietly, intimately in Hope's ear. 

"I-I don't know yet."

Josie sighs, and then she pulls away from Hope. The auburn haired girl is torn between whining at the loss of contact, or being relieved Alaric is no longer glaring at them. 

"Why don't we start?" Caroline suggests. 

"Sure." Hope says, her tone cutting. "Why don't you start by telling us how the fuck did Josie turn into a wolf last night?"

"Language, Hope." Freya scolds her niece. "My theory is that the claim gave Josie a beautiful gift. Your wolf needed its own mate, so it made one."

"A gift?! This is a curse aunt Freya!" Hope roars.

Keelin protectively places herself in front of her wife. "You calm down now, Hope!"

The tribrid glares at them, but she doesn't say another word. As she slowly calms down, Hope feels Josie's feelings overwhelm her. She was so angry that she pushed her soulmate's feelings to the side without realizing it. 

Nervousness.

Fear.

Hope looks to her right, and her eyes immediately make contact with Josie's brown ones. 

"I didn't kill anyone. Your theory makes no sense." Josie says, her voice shaking.

"Well, if we follow my theory and that it was a gift, it does make sense." Freya says, slowly walking closer to the two teenagers. "The werewolf curse is what binds the transformation to the moon. Also, it's part of the curse that the person who has the gene must kill to activate it." 

Hope frowns as she starts to understand where her aunt is going with that. She also does her best to shut off the nervousness she feels through her link with Josie. 

"So Josie would be like a Crescent wolf, she could transform at will, like me." Freya nods. "What triggered her shift? Because I'm pretty sure she didn't choose to shift." Hope turns to Josie. "Right?"

The brunette vigorously shakes her head. "I could have done without the whole bones breaking thing." Slowly, a soft smile appears on her face. "I loved running around with you though."

Hope's anger disappears as soon as those words reach her ears. It's as though all the tension leaves her body all at once. Without really realizing it, she had been worrying in the past few hours. The fact that Josie actually liked being a wolf is enough to put a stop to her persistent worries. 

She remembers the beautiful brown fur of Josie's wolf, those same brilliant brown eyes as the ones she always loved on Josie. The way the Saltzman girl had been so in control that Hope hadn't even questioned whether or not she was herself. 

"I think it has to do with you starting your own shift. Since the two of you are linked, your shift triggered hers."

Hope's attention quickly goes back to her aunt. "Okay, but what does it me-" 

"I'm going to bed." Josie drops all of a sudden, interrupting her girlfriend. 

Alaric crosses his arms and shakes his head twice. "No, you are not. You have classes, and we still need to discuss-"

As her father talks, Josie closes her eyes and brings her hands to her head. Slowly, she starts massaging her temples, doing her best to get her anger under control, but his words are dangerously making her blood boil.

"I wasn't asking dad. I am going to bed. My head is pounding, my whole body is sore and I haven't had sleep last night." She sighs loudly. "This can wait until I wake up later."

Josie doesn't give her father another chance to speak, she quickly moves to the door, getting out of the room under the eyes of everyone she's leaving behind, including Hope. The brunette just can't hear them talk about her like that. She feels like they're talking as if she's not there, Hope being the only one actually acknowledging her. Her irritation kept going up everytime any of them would open their mouths.

She goes straight to her room, never looking behind herself to see if anyone follows her. As soon as she's inside the safety of her bedroom, Josie slams the door behind herself. The noise in her head refuses to be quiet, and the buzzing in her body refuses to stop. The brunette needs to be alone.

"Josie?" Hope asks after knocking on the door. "Can I come in?"

No, her mind screams. "Yes."

The Mikaelson girl carefully steps into the room, gently closing the door as soon as she's in. Their eyes meet, and Josie expects Hope to ask her what happened, why she suddenly left, why she left without  _ her.  _ The tribrid simply observes her though, not saying a thing. The brunette knows her soulmate must be very aware of what she's feeling right now, but it still makes her uneasy to have Hope look at her with such intensity. 

"I wanted to check up on you." Hope carefully says. "I think you need some alone time to process all that's happened, I mean… That's probably why you stormed out of the office earlier. I'm willing to give you that time Josie, but remember that I promised you that I wouldn't push you away anymore. I expect the same from you."

Josie didn't even feel herself tearing up, but sure enough there's tears sliding down her cheeks. Her two hands are clenched into fists, and her eyes are no longer meeting Hope's.

"Rest well Josie, and come find me when you're ready."

Hope's little smile is answered by Josie looking away, still refusing to meet her eyes. The brunette only lifts her eyes again when she hears the soft click of the door, meaning that Hope is gone.

Oh. Hope is gone.

Suddenly, Josie seems to feel that like a million bricks on her shoulders. A moment ago she was dying for Hope to just leave her the fuck alone, and now she wishes the tribrid would just walk right back in. 

All her feelings are ready to make her heart and mind explode. The brunette closes her eyes and takes several deep breaths, she needs to calm down, but with every breath, the pressure seems to increase. 

Josie screams, she screams at the top of her lungs. Letting all her frustration out. 

Then it's as if she blacks out. Next thing she knows, the brunette is on her knees in the middle of the room. Her desk was thrown to the floor. Paper, books and several other items are all over the place. 

She wrecked her room, and she doesn't remember it at all.

* * *

Just as she's getting to her room, Hope falls to her knees, suddenly overwhelmed with a strong wave of emotion. She feels pain, so she knows that the emotions Josie is feeling right now are negative. The auburn haired girl wraps both of her arms around her stomach to try and relieve herself of some of that pain, but it doesn't work.

With difficulty, the tribrid stands up again, but not without stumbling a couple of times. She walks the couple of steps left to her room while leaning on the wall to make sure she doesn't fall. As soon as she's in her room, Hope falls to her knees again. It feels as if someone is actively trying to rip her heart out of her chest. 

There's a knock on her door.

"Hope, sweetie are you here?" Freya asks on the other side of the door.

"Come in." Hope manages to groan. 

In a second, her aunt comes crashing into the room, her eyes wide with worry. The blonde woman quickly gets on her knees in front of Hope, taking her niece's face in her hands to force the auburn haired girl to look at her.

"What's wrong? What's hurting sweetie?"

Hope closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "It's n-not me. It's J-Josie."

Freya's eyes flicker to her wife standing behind Hope. "Go see what's happening to Josie."

"No!" Hope roars, pushing the blonde woman away, and struggling to get up again. "Leave her alone."

"She could be in dan-"

"She's not. She's just… upset." Hope lets out, sitting on her bed. "She needs alone time to deal with this."

"This soulmate bond means neither of you will be alone again Hope." Freya softly says.

Hope darkly chuckles. "Unless she moves to another country. Then this stupid mark doesn't mean shit."

"Hope-"

"Just go aunt Freya. I wanna be alone."

The blonde woman opens her mouth, seemingly to protest, but her wife lays a soft hand on her shoulder, gaining her attention. As soon as Freya is looking at Keelin, the werewolf shakes her head, silently asking her to drop it. The Mikaelson woman seems totally defeated, but she still nods before looking back at her niece.

"We're here if you need us Hope. Just reach out, don't hesitate."

Hope nods, but she avoids her aunt's eyes. She's still clutching her stomach, as if it would relieve the pain she feels in her heart. When she's finally alone, Hope moves to lay on her bed. She takes her blanket and wraps herself in it until only her head is poking out. She curls herself into a ball, and then she lets her tears fall. 

She wonders how it came to this. She spent the whole night playing around with Josie, then they shifted back and Josie was cuddly and loving. Then, they had that conversation in the office and… Hope shut Josie's emotions off because she was angry. It was all her fault, and now she couldn't do anything about it. Just wait until her soulmate is ready to face her again. 

The Mikaelson girl doesn't know how long she stays in this position. She just knows that when she looks outside her window, the sky is dark again, meaning she wasted the whole day in bed. 

Hope drags herself out of bed and goes to the bathroom, leaving the door open. She feels totally miserable right now, but Josie's feelings are not as intense as they were that morning. Hope stands in front of her mirror for a moment, and without thinking about it she takes her shirt off. 

_ Josette Saltzman _

The black ink is like a balm to the wound of Hope's heart. It won't ever go away, and it's theirs. Neither of them can deny what it means. The tribrid traces the letters with the tip of her finger, each letter making her feel a little better, a little less alone.

She's tracing the 'Z' when there's a rapid knock on her door. Hope turns her head towards her bedroom, and frowns as the door opens.

"Hope, I nee-"

It's Josie. It's her soulmate. 

Hope walks back into her room as Josie quickly walks closer to her. The tribrid makes a move to put her shirt back on, but the brown eyes quickly shine bright gold. Josie is quickly close enough to touch Hope, so she grabs the shirt and throws it to the other side of the room. 

Josie's glowing eyes are quickly mirrored by Hope's. The brunette walks closer, and Hope takes a couple of steps back. There's a voice in the back of the tribrid's mind that screams at her to take control, to not let Josie dominate her like this. But, there's another part of her that is relishing in the way Josie is looking at her. 

Then, Hope's back hits the wall and Josie's smirking down at her girlfriend. That's when the tribrid understands, and accepts their new dynamic. When they're humans, Josie's in control. When they're wolves, Hope's the one in control. 

Josie's eyes are still glowing, and she looks down at Hope with a predator smile as she presses their bodies together. Deep down, Hope is telling herself to stop this because neither of them is totally in control of their actions, their wolves took over as soon as Josie laid her eyes on Hope's mark. However, her mouth is not her own anymore, and she's not strong enough to overpower her wolf when it's so close to getting what it wants.

Even in this state, Josie remains soft and gentle. She uses her hand to brush Hope's hair away from the right side of her neck, gaining full access to the soft flesh hidden behind it in the process. Then, she doesn't waste anymore time. She leans in and leaves hot and wet kisses all over Hope's neck, nipping and sucking the skin. 

Hope totally knows what's to come, but she stills hisses when her soulmate's teeth sinks into the sensitive skin of her neck. She feels the teeth deep into her flesh, and it lasts for a couple of seconds. It lasts until Josie's wolf is satisfied with the mark it left. 

The tribrid expects this to be over now, after all she herself got control over her wolf as soon as the claiming was through. However, when Josie's pulls back, her eyes are still bright gold, and Hope is pretty sure hers are not back to blue either. She doesn't get to look into her soulmate's eyes for long though, because the brunette crashes their lips together, and then Hope is a goner. 

She lets it all happen. 

She lets Josie kiss, suck and even bite her lips, leaving them red and swollen. 

She lets Josie strip her of every piece of clothing that was left on her body. 

She lets Josie touch  _ every _ part of her body.

She lets Josie take everything she wants. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any thoughts? 😏


	18. The day after

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi?
> 
> I'm so sorry for the long wait. I hope you'll like this one, if you still remember this fic 😂
> 
> Enjoy!

The silence in the room is only disturbed by the sound of two girls trying to catch their breaths. The brunette is clinging to the auburn haired girl's naked body, holding her close. Hope never knew that being so sore could actually feel good. Josie's head is buried in the tribrid's neck, and their legs are intertwined. It's hard to tell where one starts and where the other ends. 

Hope regained control of her body almost as soon as they stopped having sex. Her eyes took their normal shade of blue back, and she felt everything fall back in place again. She could tell it wasn't the case for her soulmate though. Josie's eyes, when they were open, were still bright gold and could just feel that the brunette wasn't herself. 

It takes the Saltzman girl a couple more minutes to be herself again. Josie's hold on Hope's waist slackened a little, and she got her face out of where it was buried in the tribrid's neck. When their eyes meet, it's blue and brown again. The brunette looks confused all of a sudden, but this confusion is clouded by sleep. Hope raises her hand and softly strokes her cheek to give her some comfort.

"It's okay Jo, you can sleep." The tribrid whispers before placing a soft kiss on the brunette's forehead. "Sleep, my love." 

It looks as if Josie is gonna protests, but then she seems to give up. Her eyes are so heavy that she just closes them and surrenders herself to sleep. Hope's eyes are glued to her soulmate's face, a soft smile never leaving her lips. They'd have time to talk and figure things out later. For now, she just wants to hold Josie close and forget about the world for a little while. So, she does just that, and it ends up with her falling asleep too. 

The Mikaelson girl wakes up to a panic that is not her own. She feels a tightness in her chest and the air refuses to get to her lungs. Hope quickly opens her eyes and scans the room to find her girlfriend. Josie is nowhere to be found and suddenly the panic in her chest is her own. It's why she's so relieved to hear the shower start a couple of seconds later. The tribrid quickly pushes her blanket away and then she gets out of bed. She's about to run straight to the door, but she quickly changes her mind. Hope heads for her desk and quickly takes a shirt and some underwear out of it. In a second, she dresses herself and then she goes to the bathroom door. The first time she knocks on the door, she does it hesitantly and it's so quiet she barely hears it herself. The tightness in her chest is only getting worse, and it pushes Hope to knock another time, way louder this time.

There's no answer. Hope waits and she knocks a third time.

"Josie, can I come in?" Hope leans her forehead on the door when the brunette stays silent. "Please."

This time she gets a quiet answer to come in, and the tribrid's heart makes a jump in her chest. She doesn't miss one more second before opening the door of the bathroom. When Hope sets her eyes on Josie, her heart shatters. The brunette in sitting under the running shower still dressed in a shirt and some underwear, curled up in ball and holding her knees close to her chest. Hope takes careful steps towards her soulmate. It's only when she's crouching down next to the bathtub that the brunette's head snaps up. The fear and panic Hope can read in Josie's eyes make her want to reach out and hold her girlfriend close, but the Mikaelson girl knows better. 

"Josie, you need to breathe." Hope gently and slowly says. "Stay with me, and breathe love."

The brown eyes fill with tears, but the tribrid can see Josie's trying. She's taking shaky breaths, desperately trying to calm herself down.

"Keep going, you're doing so good love." The tribrid assures her. "Do you need me to do something?

"H-hold me." Josie finally asks after a couple of seconds spent in silence.

Hope nods and swallows the lump in her throat. She steps into the tub, not caring about the water still running. The tribrid sits in front of her soulmate since Josie doesn't move. She opens her arms, expecting Josie to sit between her legs and lean her back against her chest, but the brunette's next action catches her by surprise. The Saltzman girl climbs into Hope's lap and clings to her as if she's gonna disappear if she ever lets go. When she gets over the surprise, the tribrid returns the embrace, one arm around Josie's waist and the other hand resting on the back of the brunette's neck. She moves them a little, making sure the water still hits her girlfriend's back, because she can feel how soothing it is for Josie. 

"Breathe Josie, everything is okay." Hope comforts her girlfriend again. "It's gonna be over soon. You're safe, and I'm not going anywhere."

It takes several more minutes, and a lot more comforting words before Josie's breathing gets back to normal. When it does, both their heartbeats slow down, and the terrible pain in Hope's heart gets quiet. It gets quiet, but it doesn't disappear, not completely at least. The only thing that doesn't change when the panic attack stops, is Josie's strong hold on Hope's shirt. 

"What happened love?" The auburn haired girl asks as she pushes some wet hair out of Josie's face.

"Hope…" Josie says, her voice shaking on the single word. "Hope, I don't remember what happened last night."

The tribrid's fingers stop their movements in Josie's brown locks, and it feels as if her heart stops for a second. She knew Josie wasn't in control the night before, and honestly she wasn't even in control of herself either, but… She couldn't even remember what they had done? What they had shared? 

"W-what do you mean?"

Josie's grip on Hope's shirt tightens a little. "I can't remember what happened at all. I have no idea what happened after I knocked on your door last night." She takes a shaky breath. "I mean… I have a pretty good idea of what we did since I woke up to the both of us naked-"

"Josie, stop." Hope cuts her off. "You don't have access to your wolf's memories."

"W-what?" The brunette asks. "Why?"

"I don't know." Hope lets out.

The little break in her own voice surprises the tribrid. It's only then that she realizes she's actually crying, or maybe she's been crying for longer than that but the water of the shower kept her from realizing it.

Josie feels her soulmate's distress like a punch to the stomach. The brunette quickly looks at Hope's face, and the tears sliding down the tribrid's cheeks are enough to break Josie's heart a little more. For the first time since she's been sitting in Hope's lap, the brunette's hands let go of the Mikaelson girl's shirt. Josie gently craddles her girlfriend's face before leaning in to kiss her forehead.

"I'm so sorry Josie." Hope says before looking down, too ashamed to look her girlfriend in the eyes. "If I had known-"

"Don't blame yourself Hope." Josie pleads. 

"I could have taken control over my wolf. If I really would have wanted it, I cou-"

"Stop!" Josie roars. "We're navigating through unknown waters Hope. You couldn't have known."

The tribrid is once again surprised. Her soulmate's fierceness is unexpected. Josie used to be so quiet, even in her anger. 

"You were my first." Hope suddenly drops.

All the anger on Josie's face disappears, and it leaves place to heartbreak. Their shared feelings allow Hope to know exactly just how saddened Josie is from hearing that. The tribrid lifts her head to meet the siphon's eyes again, she can't deal with all the sadness going through their link. Both their hearts are on the verge of breaking instead of soaring, and Hope feels like it's wrong. It shouldn't be this way between them.

"I'm so sorry I don't remember… I'll make this right." Josie says before leaving a lingering, yet chaste, kiss on Hope's lips. 

Hope sighs with her eyes closed. " _ We'll _ make this right. Together… How we're meant to be."

They stay like that for a long time. Josie sitting in Hope's lap, their foreheads resting together. Josie enjoys the way Hope's hand goes up and down her back, and the brunette stays very still, as if she's afraid her girlfriend would stop if she moved. As for the tribrid, she's just happy to be able to hold her siphon soulmate close again. It's only when they both feel the pain subside that they decide to break apart. 

The Mikaelson girl steps out of the shower, soaking wet. She reaches for a towel, and she knows she needs to get out of her clothes now. She quickly glances at Josie, cheeks red when she makes eyes contact with the brunette.

"Jo… Could you…"

The Saltzman girl's eyes widen, and she soon has a blush mirroring Hope's. Josie nods and quickly looks away, her eyes now on the wall of the shower. Her soulmate's cute reaction makes a smile appear on Hope's face, and she slowly shakes her head in fondness before getting out of her wet clothes. When she's done, the tribrid wraps herself in her towel and then she grabs the door's handle. 

"I'll go grab some clothes from your room, okay? Take your time in the shower."

"Okay." Josie agrees. 

Hope does just as she said. She goes back inside her bedroom, puts dry clothes on and then she goes to her girlfriend's room. It takes her a couple of minutes to decide what she's gonna bring back for Josie, but in the end she settles for some sweats pants, one of the school's shirt and a hoodie. When she gets back to her room, the shower is still running and it makes her smile. Josie's really taking her time to relax, she can feel it. 

The tribrid knocks on the bathroom door. "Josie, I'll open the door and leave the clothes inside, okay?"

"Yes, come in."

Hope pushes the door open and steps inside before leaving the clothes on the counter. She quickly gets out again, not wanting to let her eyes wander to Josie. When the tribrid closes the door behind her again, there's a quick knock on the door of her bedroom. She frowns, but still goes to answer the door. Hope is relieved to see her aunt when she opens the door.

"Good morning aunt Freya." Hope says with a little smile.

Freya's smile is blinding. "Good morning Hope. It's so good to see you look better than yesterday. Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure." 

The tribrid opens the door wider and steps to the side to let her aunt in. Freya hears the sound of the shower and quickly looks over at her niece.

"Were you about to step into the shower? 'Cause I can come back lat-"

Hope shakes her head and cuts her off. "Josie's in the shower."

Freya frowns. "I thought she needed space."

Hope nervously glances at the door leading to the bathroom. She wants to tell her aunt what happened, but she can't without Josie's consent. The tribrid runs a hand through her hair and sighs.

"Something happened and she ended up spending the night here." 

That's technically not a lie. Something did happen, and Josie did spend the night in Hope's room. 

"You're not telling me everything." Freya says with a raised eyebrow.

The shower stops making noise and it takes the both of them by surprise. Hope's eyes are suddenly glued to the door, desperately waiting for her soulmate to get out of the bathroom. Freya watches silently how smitten her niece looks at the thought of seeing the Saltzman girl step inside the room.

"You love her." Freya says softly.

Hope's head quickly snaps in her aunt's direction. "What? No. That's… too soon."

"Too soon?" The blonde woman chuckles. "Hope, she's your soulmate. I don't think 'too soon' applies here."

"Aunt Freya, stop." Hope warns.

"I'm just sayin-"

The door of the bathroom opens, and Josie steps into the bedroom, cutting their conversation short. As soon as Hope sees her girlfriend, butterflies go crazy in her stomach. The siphon actually looks small because her hoodie is too big, and it makes her way too cute. Then the tribrid can feel how comfortable Josie is and it warms her heart. 

"Oh, hi Freya." Josie says with a little smile. 

"Hi Josie." The Mikaelson woman says back. "Now that I have both of your attention, I think it's time to tell you we need to head to Alaric and Caroline's office."

Josie and Hope share a look, and it's only when the brunette shrugs that Hope turns back to her aunt.

"Okay, just let me pull my hair in a ponytail or something. It's still wet and I hate it."

"Did you take a shower before Josie did?" Freya asks curiously.

Hope blushes. "Uh, yeah."

Freya hums, and the tribrid avoids her eyes as she walks to the bathroom to get a hair tie. She quickly gets one, and then steps out of the bathroom again as she ties her hair. Suddenly, her aunt gasps, and her eyes are wide.

"Hope! Did Josie bite you?" The guilty look on both girls' face is the only answer Freya needs. "How did this happen?"

Josie looks over at Hope, but her soulmate is unwilling to meet her eyes. The tribrid is looking down, avoiding any eye contact. The brunette sighs, she'll have to handle this.

"I lost control." Josie says, voice shaking. "I can't control my wolf at all when it takes over. No… It's worst than that actually. I can't even remember what happens when it takes over."

Freya sighs and closes her eyes. She runs a hand over her face, clearly exhausted by the situation. She pinches the bridge of her nose, deep in thoughts.

Josie watches her for a minute or two before her eyes move to look at Hope. Her girlfriend is still looking down, her hands clenched into fists. The brunette has a hard time understanding her feelings. Slowly, the Saltzman girl moves closer to the tribrid and takes one of her hand in hers. Gently, Josie forces Hope to unclench her fist, and then she intertwines their fingers. 

"Hope, what's going on in your beautiful head?"

"What if it's all my fault? I'm ruining your life Jo, making it all so complicated and painful."

"Stop this right now." Josie says sternly. "We've been over this. You're making my life better. I've dreamed about having a soulmate all my life. Maybe it's not going as I dreamed it would, but still… We're meant to be and we'll figure this out."

Hope smiles, then Josie's gently takes her chin in her free hand and leans in to peck her lips. Freya's voice quickly makes them pull away though.

"It could have something to do with the Merge!" The woman sees the two girls exchange a worried look. "Let's all go to your parents' office Josie, we'll figure this out."

The two soulmates follow the blonde woman all the way to the Headmasters' office. As soon as they walk in and explain everything, every single person in the room gets to work. Hope catches Alaric glaring at her a couple of times, but she just glares back. Freya calls Vincent in New Orleans so he can look through her books back home, and they all read the ones Alaric gathered over the years. 

It's not long before Hope feels restless, but she's not sure it's actually coming from her. She quickly scans the room to find her girlfriend. Josie is sitting next to her sister on a couch, reading some book. Hope doesn't miss how her leg is bouncing, and how she nervously plays with her hair. The Mikaelson girl gets closer to her girlfriend, and she stops when she's standing right in front of her.

"Josie?" The brunette lifts her head. "Wanna get out of here? We could go for a run."

"No." Josie quickly blurts out.

Hope winces and looks away. "Uh, okay. Sorry I bothered you."

The tribrid turns around, but before she can walk away, Josie grabs her and tugs on it until the tribrid turns around again.

"I'm sorry babe, I didn't mean to be rude to you."

"Babe?" Lizzie says before acting like she's gonna puke.

The brunette twin rolls her eyes and softly pushes her sister. Then she gives her attention back to her soulmate. Hope is still standing in front of her, looking more awkward than ever. 

"We could grab something to eat though. I'm starving." Josie suggests with a soft smile. 

Hope smiles back and nods. Josie stands up, and together they walk out of the office. They walk through the halls of the Salvatore school hand in hand, and it feels right. They almost manage to forget everything that is wrong in their life as they pass and cause gossip to errupt amongst the students. They share soft looks, little smiles. 

They walk into the kitchen and Josie quickly grabs everything it takes to make herself a nice salad. 

"Do you want me to make some for you?" 

"Sure." Hope agrees with a little smile. "I'm making myself a sandwich to go with that, can I make one for you?"

"Oh yes! With lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado and… some onions."

"No meat?" The tribrid asks over her shoulder as she's going through the fridge.

"No meat. I'm vegan Hope." 

"Right, of course." 

They quickly make their meals, working side by side in silence. Once they're done, they agree to walk back to Hope's room to eat in peace. They get there in no time, and settles to eat at Hope's desk. The tribrid is about to take the first bite of her sandwich when a sudden thought crosses her mind.

"Are you gonna kiss me if I eat this?" She asks as she gestures to her ham sandwich.

Josie scrunches her nose in disgust. "You'll definitely have to wash your teeth before."

Hope shrugs. "Okay."

Then she quickly bites down on her sandwich, causing a little giggle to come out of her girlfriend. They eat mostly in silence. Hope tries to make conversation, but each time she's met with Josie's short answers, so she quickly stops. She'll have to learn to respect her girlfriend's silence, even when she can feel that something is definitely wrong. 

As for the brunette, she tries to find some kind of way to get her wolf to shut up. She can feel it roaring and desperately trying to come out, and it scares her to death. When Hope suggested they go for a run, the wolf got excited but Josie got scared. Now, the brunette can feel how angry the wolf is with her. She's not willing to let it take over again, not after what it took from Hope and her the night before. 


	19. Building a connection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> Surprise chapter! YAY!!

"You need to dodge my attacks, or at least block them!" Hope says.

Josie wipes the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand, and sends a glare in Hope's way. It's their first training session since Josie's been a werewolf, but the new hybrid can safely say that she absolutely hates it. Hope is doing her best to teach her basic anger management tricks in hopes that it would help Josie control herself, but the brunette just feels even more angry than before. If she wasn't sparring with her soulmate, she'd seriously consider ripping her opponent apart. Honestly, Josie feels like she's doing her best. Hope is trying to push her too hard. It's her first lesson as a werewolf, she can't be perfect!

When Hope throws another punch and it ends up straight on Josie's jaw, the brunette stumbles and ends up on her knees, her hands over her jaw.

"Oh my god, Josie, I'm so sorry. I thought you were paying attention and that you'd-"

Josie stands up, and when Hope sees her golden eyes, she immediately stops talking. The tribrid takes a step back and tightens her jaw. She has absolutely no idea of what's going to happen now, or how she should react. 

Josie walks closer, and in one swift motion, she charges. Her movements are quick and precise, nothing like the clumsy ones the brunette was previously using on Hope. The Mikaelson girl dodges the punches, and does her best to fight off her soulmate. Soon enough though, they end up on the floor with Josie pining Hope to the ground. The usual brown eyes are still glowing gold, so Hope decides to put her foot down. 

She needs her soulmate back… 

She needs her back now.

Using all of her power, Hope wrestles Josie and soon enough she straddles the brunette. The tribrid pines Josie's wrists on the floor above her head, which makes her lean her body close to Josie's. The brunette is breathing heavily, and her golden eyes are staring right into Hope's blue ones. 

Hope's own eyes flash gold for a couple of seconds. The flash is meant to be intimidating and dominating, but it ends up like a plea. It still works though, because when they turn back to blue, Josie's eyes turn back to the warm brown that Hope loves so much.

Hope is immediately relieved, and she tries to show it by gently touching Josie's face, but the brunette quickly pushes her away. In fact, Josie's rejection is so hard that Hope ends up falling to the side. She's surprised her soulmate would push her with so much strength. As she sits up and tries to bring it up, Hope realises Josie's already on her feet and rushing out of the gym. 

The tribrid only sees the brunette's back, missing the hot tears streaming down Josie's cheeks. The Saltzman girl doesn't really know what just happened, but one thing is for sure : she blacked out again. Josie heads out of the gym without even glancing back at Hope, she just can't deal with her soulmate's worried eyes right now.

Josie heads straight to the only person she thinks could help her. She taps three times on the door, and it quickly opens. Keelin's smile turns to a worried frown. Gently, she pulls Josie into the room. She's a little surprised when the Saltzman girl immediately wraps her in a hug and buries her face in her neck. The woman doesn't hesitate to slowly return the embrace, giving away all the comfort she can. 

After a long moment, Keelin manages to guide Josie to the bed. Together, they sit in silence for a while. Josie is playing with her fingers, silent tears still falling from her eyes as the woman gently draws circles on her back to soothe her. She waits for Josie to be ready to talk, she doesn't wanna push the teenager. 

"I blacked out again." Josie quietly says. "Hope was trying to teach me self-defense to help get some edge off, but all it did was anger me. She threw one too many punches and I lost it."

Keelin hums. "Did Hope get hurt?"

Josie quickly turns to look at the werewolf, her eyes wide. "No! I'd never hurt Hope. Even in that state." The woman nods. "Keelin, you… you need to help me."

"What do you want me to do Josie?" 

"You know what it's like to be a wolf. You know how it works, so just tell me!" Josie pleads, her voice sounding more desperate with every word getting out of her mouth. 

Keelin sighs. "Josie… You wanna know why I think you can't remember things that happen when your wolf takes over?"

Josie nods, an eager look on her face. Keelin gives the girl a soft smile, but she knows what she's about to say will probably shake the young girl in next to her.

"I think you don't trust your wolf. You're so scared of this new part of yourself that you're trying to repress it, and it's making your wolf very angry." Keelin gently places a strand of hair behind Josie's ear. "Your wolf is a part of you, it doesn't have to be a different entity. Maybe your wolf doesn't trust you either. I think you need to connect with it in order to make one. Because, if you are one with your wolf, there'll be no reason for you two to be so disconnected."

Josie listens to everything Keelin is saying with all her attention. She's not sure she likes what the woman is subtly suggesting. She knows Keelin is speaking the truth. She doesn't trust her wolf, and she  _ is _ scared of it. She wasn't supposed to be a werewolf, she wasn't born with the gene. 

"How do you suggest I "connect" with my wolf?" Josie anxiously asks.

"Let it out. Let it run free, and blend with it. Make sure it doesn't push you out when you shift. You're the strongest one, Josie. Never forget it."

Josie swallows with difficulty, and looks down, but she still nods. 

"Go to the forest… The flower field where you ran the first time. It'll make your wolf happy to be in a familiar place. " Keelin smiles, and then she stands up, offering her hand to Josie. "I'll inform your parents."

Josie does her best to smile as she takes the offered hand and stands up too. 

"Thank you Keelin."

"No problem kid." She places a hand on Josie's shoulder. "How is it going with Hope?"

Josie looks down. "That is a complicated question. We're good, I think. I just… left her behind in the gym earlier. I felt so… ashamed because I lost control again."

"You should have a good conversation with her. Tell her exactly how you feel. Hope… she just wants to help."

Josie does her best to smile, then she thanks Keelin one more time before walking out of the room. She makes a quick stop to her room to get a change of underwear since she doesn't know how long it might take her to shift. The brunette really doesn't feel like standing naked in the middle of the forest for hours. Then, Josie goes straight to the flower field, not letting her doubt and fears get the best of her. She needs to do this, or else she'll be scared forever and black out again. She already lost the memories of her first time with Hope, she won't let that kind of thing happen again.

When she's standing in the middle of the flower field, Josie suddenly feels a wave of comfort go through her. This place really feels like home now. She quickly gets her clothes off, and when the chilly air hits her skin, she can't stop the shiver from running down her spine. Josie sits on her knees, and then tries to start the process of shifting, but nothing happens. She tries and tries again, but it feels like her wolf is refusing to make an appearance.

"Come on!" Josie whispers-yells at her wolf. "I'm ready to let you out, you stupid beast."

"Insulting your wolf isn't gonna trigger the change."

Hope's voice quickly makes Josie turn around. She quickly blushes when she sees her soulmate walking up to her with a tentative smile. Hope looks so hesitant, and it literally breaks Josie's heart. She knows how snappy and rude she's been to the tribrid since she discovered that she's a werewolf. Josie hates that Hope feels this way. 

The brunette stands up, and lets out a chuckle when Hope quickly looks elsewhere.

"You've seen me naked before, Hope. I don't mind you seeing me in my underwear."

Hope scratches the back of her neck as she stops walking.

"I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

"I think we're past that." Josie softly says. 

Hope nods. Josie looks at all the space between them, and it's not that much, but it's enough to show there's a wedge between them at the moment. The brunette takes a couple of steps closer to Hope, causing the tribrid to quickly look back at her.

"Josie…" Hope starts, and it seems the words get caught up in her throat.

"No, let me talk." Josie says as she shakes her head. "I've been so angry and scared lately that it affected us. I'm sorry about that, Hope."

"Scared? Of what?" The Mikaelson girl asks with a frown.

"Of… everything. My wolf, myself, the black outs. I'm just terrified of everything that's been happening." Josie takes Hope's hands in hers. "And I've been a really bad girlfriend. I used you as an emotional punching bag. That should have never happened. I am so sorry."

Hope squeezes Josie's hands. "I just wish you would have trusted me enough to confide in me."

"I do trust you. I just thought I could deal with this on my own, but it kept getting worse."

The tribrid forces a smile. "Okay. So, what now?"

"I talked to Keelin." Josie sighs. "She thinks I need to accept my wolf and that everything will be fine if I do. To show my wolf I accept it, she suggested I should let it out, but I can't shift."

"Maybe… we could do this together? If you want, of course. If not, then I can tell you how I trigger my wolf and-"

Josie giggles and gently pulls on Hope's hands, getting her girlfriend even closer than before. To silence Hope, the brunette leans in and initiates a long and deep kiss. It takes no time for Hope to reciprocate the kiss. Their tongues meet and dance together. They let go of each other's hands. Josie's hands go to Hope's hips, and she makes sure there's no space left between their bodies. The tribrid let out a deep sigh when their bodies are pressed together. She tangles her hands in Josie's hair, getting completely lost in the kiss. Josie's touch feels like a burn on Hope's skin, and she just wishes she was wearing a little less clothes. At least Josie isn't wearing much. 

When Josie understands that Hope is getting all hot and bothered, she gently breaks the kiss. Hope doesn't even try to stop the whine escaping her lips.

"We'll get back to this later, I promise." Josie says with a wink. "But we really need to wolf out first."

Hope clears her throat and nods. "So… you want me to shift with you, right?"

Josie playfully rolls her eyes. "Yes, Hope."

"Okay. Good."

The auburn haired girl doesn't miss another moment. She quickly takes her shirt and pants off. Josie doesn't tear her eyes away from her soulmate's body, appreciating every little part of skin exposed. She does turn around when Hope takes her underwear off, knowing Hope might be a little shy about completely stripping in front of her. 

"So, uh, follow my lead, okay?" Hope says, and Josie nods. 

The tribrid explains every step to her soulmate, and Josie listens carefully. She's about to tell Hope that they are exactly doing what she was doing on her own earlier, which didn't work at all, when she feels her first bone breaking. The sudden pain surprises her, but what is even more surprising is that the shift doesn't last long at all. After a couple of minutes, Josie and Hope are both standing in the middle of the flower field in their wolf form.

Josie wrestles internally with her wolf to keep control over herself. She can feel her wolf there, and she does her best to show it that they both have their places. That they make one.

The soulmates run together for hours. When they're not running, they play or even just cuddle together. Hope even takes Josie deeper into the woods until they reach the lake. The Saltzman girl swims as a wolf for the first time, and probably the last. She hates everything about it. Her fur is so wet, and so heavy!

When they shift back, Josie quickly feels the change within herself. She feels her wolf, just like she does since it's been there, but now the wolf is at peace. It's no longer angry, and ready to tear everyone apart. The brunette puts her clothes back on as fast as possible, making sure to be clothed before Hope. As soon as she's done, she runs to her girlfriend and hugs her from behind. Hope has yet to put her shirt on, so Josie's hands rest on the skin of the tribrid's stomach, making Hope momentarily stop. Josie buries her face in the back of Hope's neck and closes her eyes.

"I think it worked, Hope. I feel so much better."

"I'm glad." Hope covers Josie's hands with hers. "Do you… remember what happened during your black outs?"

Josie's eyes suddenly open again, and her heart sinks. "No. I don't."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry."

Hope takes a deep breath before turning around in Josie's arms. The brunette's face is sad, but Hope gives her a little smile.

"It's okay, Josie." The tribrid softly says. "You'll remember one day, I'm sure. In the meantime, I guess we'll just have to do  _ it _ again."

Hope says those words with a teasing tone, and it quickly gets a little blush out of her soulmate. Josie lets a little laugh out, and then she releases her hold on Hope to let the tribrid put her shirt on. 

They walk back to school together, hand in hand. They feel closer than they have since Josie turned into a wolf for the first time. Hope draws small circles on the back of Josie's hand with her thumb. Sometimes, they make eye contact before looking away shyly. It somehow feels like they are a newly formed couple, even though they've been through a lot. 

As they walk through the halls of the school, the couple comes face to face with Josie's twin. Lizzie looks at them with curiosity, and maybe a little bit of jealousy. It suddenly dawns on the brunette twin that she's been neglecting her sister since she found out that she has a soulmate.

Lizzie walks past them without even saying "hi", and Josie really can't have that. 

"Lizzie, wait!" The brunette turns to her girlfriend. "I'm gonna spend some time with her, okay? I'll see you later."

Hope looks a little sad for a second, but it's quickly gone. 

"Of course." Hope nods. "Are you gonna sleep in my room tonight?"

Josie nods quickly. "Yeah, I will."

Hope smiles. "Good."

* * *

Later that night, Josie walks into Hope's room with a little smile. The tribrid quickly looks away from her canvas and returns her girlfriend's smile. It's late, and Hope is standing right by the window. Josie stops breathing for a moment when the moonlight hits her soulmate's blue eyes, making them shine. 

Josie wanted to tell Hope about the time she spent with her sister. She wanted to talk about the day they spent together. She even wanted to ask about what the tribrid has been up to in the time that she was gone. But all of this flies out of the window when Josie sees Hope's sparkling blue eyes. 

This time, she'll remember everything that happens. She'll remember how beautiful Hope is when she doesn't wear clothes, and how smooth her skin feels under her fingertips. Josie makes sure to register every little sound she manages to get out of her soulmate, and every sensitive spot on Hope's body.

Josie briefly wonders how she could have forgotten the way Hope's naked body feels against hers. She quickly pushes that thought away though. She might have forgotten once, but she'll never let it happen again. 

Hope's back is pressed to Josie's front, and the brunette knows Hope is already asleep. Josie can't surrender herself to sleep yet though. Not when she feels this good, this content. So, she gently caresses her girlfriend's skin and peppers her neck with kisses.

Josie has no idea of when she fell asleep. All she knows is that she wakes up a couple of hours later, gasping for air. She sits up in bed and does her best to catch her breath as tears slide down her cheeks. Hope quickly wakes up too, and wraps Josie up in her arms. She whispers comforting words in her girlfriend's ear until the brunette suddenly starts laughing.

Hope stops everything and moves away from Josie, looking at her with a confused frown. The brunette keeps laughing for a while, and when she eventually stops, her eyes lock with Hope's. She quickly leans in and captures the tribrid's lips in a feisty kiss, before she pulls away and leans her forehead on Hope's.

"I remember."


	20. Always and Forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it everyone! The last chapter.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this. I'm sorry it took so long for me to update it.

Hope wakes up to the feeling of a feather-like touch on her back. She can feel Josie tracing a pattern on her shoulder-blade, and the auburn haired girl immediately knows what got her girlfriend's attention. Hope opens her eyes, and they immediately fall on the clock on her nightstand. 

_ 9:00AM _

The Mikaelson girl sighs, and the touch stops. Hope takes it as her cue to turn around and face her soulmate. When she does so, she's met with a sight that makes her smile fondly. Josie has a sheepish smile on, and her cheeks have a light pink color. The tribrid lazily wraps her arm around her girlfriend's waist and pulls her close. She doesn't hesitate to bury her face in Josie's neck to take her scent in. Feeling the brunette so close to her is calming, and her scent is almost driving Hope insane. They stay like this for a while, Hope holding Josie close, and Josie letting her fingers wander all over Hope's back. The tribrid pulls away first, but only because she wants to see Josie's face. When they're finally looking each other in the eyes, the Saltzman girl quickly leans in and leaves a kiss on Hope's nose, making her giggle. 

"Hi, love." Hope finally says.

"Hi." Josie says, her voice coming out shyly. 

"Do you like my birthmark?" 

There's a teasing tone to Hope's voice, and added to her question, it makes Josie blush again. 

"It got me curious." 

Hope hums. "It means I'm from the Crescent Wolf Pack."

Josie smiles and nods. "It's beautiful."

Hope smiles back. "Thank you."

The tribrid lifts her hand and gently starts playing with her girlfriend's brown locks. Josie's hair is soft under Hope's touch, and the feeling makes both girls smile softly as they look into each other's eyes. 

"So…" Hope says, her voice so quiet that Josie almost misses it. 

"So?" The Saltzman girl tries to encourage Hope to keep talking.

The Mikaelson girl swallows the lump in her throat, and she breaks eye contact while doing so. When she looks back into her favorite brown eyes, she sees a little bit of worry in them, so she quickly decides to just say the words she's been dying to say.

"You remember." Hope blurts out, unable to hide the emotion in her voice.

Josie takes a moment to answer. She looks at Hope and sees just how affected her soulmate was by her loss of memories. The Saltzman girl thinks of what she finally remembered the night before as a warm feeling settles in her chest. As gently as she can, the brunette reaches for the tribrid's hand. Josie places their palms flat against each other, and when their eyes meet, she intertwines their fingers.

"Yes, I remember everything." 

Hope's smile is almost blinding. She quickly leans in and leaves a peck on Josie's lips. The brunette giggles and leans in to get a proper kiss from her soulmate, but just as their lips are about to touch, there's a loud knock on the door. They jump apart from the sudden interruption. Then, Hope groans loudly and turns to lay on her back, not facing Josie anymore.

"Who is it?" Hope calls out.

"It's Lizzie." The blonde answers, her tone of voice betraying her annoyance. "Is my sister with you?"

The auburn haired girl looks at the brunette laying next to her. Josie's cheeks are pink, and she's tightly holding the sheets over her body. Hope can't help but smile fondly at the way her girlfriend seems to be shy all of a sudden.

"Yeah, she's here."

"Good, you have 15 minutes to join us in mom and dad's office."

"What?" Hope says. "Why?"

After a couple of seconds of silence, Josie nudges Hope's arm.

"Don't wait for an answer, I think she left."

"Why is everyone always interrupting us?" Hope groans as she pushes the sheets off of her body and stands up. "We can never be alone for long. I just wanted to spend the day in bed with you."

Josie stands up as Hope talks, and when her girlfriend is done, she lets out a sigh. 

"I know. We'll get that. One day when we're done with high school and have an apartment together."

Hope stops for a moment as she's lowering her shirt to cover her chest. Josie's words make her mind go into overdrive as she overthinks what that could mean. Her and Josie… They could build something together. They could have what Hope's been craving since she lost her parents.

"Are you making plans for us, Saltzman?" Hope says as she lowers her shirt over her stomach.

The Mikaelson girl's tone of voice is teasing, yet hopeful. It's Josie's turn to stop what she's doing. The brunette turns around and meets her soulmate's eyes. She offers a small smile to Hope, a little shy to say her next words. 

"Yeah, I am."

Just as Hope smiles back, Josie's face gets sad, and she looks down.

"Jo, is something wrong?"

"We might not get a future."

The tribrid is utterly confused. For a second, she wonders what Josie could mean, and then the answer drops like a ton of bricks. Hope quickly walks to Josie and wraps her in a tight hug.

"You're thinking about the Merge." The Mikaelson girl quietly says.

Josie nods, and brings her arms up to hold her girlfriend.

"It could ruin everything, and keep us from having that future."

The tribrid takes a step back to look at the brunette. She needs to look into Josie's eyes while she says her next words.

"It won't." She says without hesitation. "You know, you're not just a witch anymore, you're a wolf too. Maybe that changes something, maybe you won't even have to go through with the Merge."

Josie gives her girlfriend an incredulous look. "Right."

"Look, the thing is we don't know. Just like everything else concerning that soulmate bond we share. Maybe it changed things for the Merged, and maybe it didn't." Hope takes a deep breath. "But the thing I can tell you for sure is that nothing is taking you away from me. We've been through a lot, and I don't doubt that we'll go through more, but it's you and me from now on."

Josie's eyes are filled with tears and it prompts Hope to interrupt her speech and kiss her. The auburn haired girl quickly places her hand on the back of Josie's neck and pulls her soulmate in for a passionate kiss. She tries to pour her soul and conviction into a single kiss, and Josie seems to believe it since she reciprocates it with as much intensity. 

At one point, Hope uses her free hand to grip Josie's shirt. She balls the fabric in a tight fist, hoping it will steady herself because her knees feel weak by the way Josie's kissing her. It's not that Josie's doing anything that could get Hope hot and bothered. The thing is the Saltzman girl's fingers are touching Hope's skin where her shirt doesn't entirely cover her waist and it brings the Mikaelson girl back to the night before.

Hope has more to say though. So, with every little bit of strength she has, the tribrid softly pushes Josie away. For a second, the brunette doesn't realise what's happening and chases her soulmate's mouth. When Hope doesn't meet her lips again though, Josie's eyes flutter open. The Mikaelson girl gently pulls Josie's head closer to hers so their foreheads are pressed together.

"I'm not losing you, do you understand? Nothing's gonna take you away from me." Hope says with conviction. Then, she lets a little smile appear on her face. "We have a future to live together after all, right?" 

Josie's eyes are once again filled with tears, but her smile tells Hope that they are not bad ones this time. The brunette nods once and then places her forehead back on Hope's. 

"I'm good with spending the rest of my life discovering what our soulmate bond implies and how it will evolve with time. You're the love of my life Josie Saltzman, always and forever."

Josie's heart is beating so loudly she's actually afraid Hope might be able to hear it. The brunette never thought someone would feel that way about her. She wondered for a long time if she would have to settle to be everyone's second choice. And now, she has the only tribrid in existence declaring her undying love for her. For a second, she thinks back to her 13 year old self. How she was totally fascinated and enamoured with the girl that is now her soulmate. Time can sometimes really arrange things for the best.

"Always and forever sounds perfect to me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look... I know it's short, but I think it nicely wraps up the story. I hope you enjoyed it!


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